Clash of the Elements Special 1: Rebirth of Subspace
by mewmaster93
Summary: Two months after the end of the battle against Joe Dark/The Dark King, a new yet familiar foe has returned to wreak havoc across the Mushroom Kingdom. Can Mario and friends best the Subspace Army? And just why is Tabuu after the reborn Elemental Overlord?
1. Prologue to the Battle

**Author's Note:**

Welcome, to the first "Movie" of Clash of the Elements. I described just why I'm calling this story a movie in a previous entry, so go look for that in Part 1 if you wish to know. That story of course can be found here:

.net/s/7538101/1/Clash_of_the_Elements_Part_1_A_Flame_Reborn

And it is considered essential to read if you want to comprehend some of the things that occur in this story. This story has been divided up into 7 parts, and each one will be posted three days after the next. Why you may ask? Because while these are being uploaded I'm getting started on Part 2, and I would like to at least get a decent part of the chapters ready to be posted by the time this is finished being uploaded. So yeah, with that brief explanation out of the way you won't hear anymore from me until the end! So enjoy!

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><p>It is nighttime in the land of the Beanbean Kingdom. Two citizens, with their smiling green faces and their plain orange work shirts and small blue jeans, can be seen walking east across the smoothly cut grass towards the Castle Town's gated bridge marked with two giant green bean posts. They are happily discussing their day, even though they know little about each other. "Man, working for Cork and Cask at the Chateau de Chucklehuck is a riveting experience, wouldn't you say?" "Indeed it is. I'm glad the two of them decided to start hiring us Bean citizens again after they've managed to come up with some new flavors of their famous Reserve." "I must say, the night sky is looking absolutely enchanting, eh?" The two of them look up as their feet touch down onto the cobblestone pathway. Though there are a couple of puffy clouds in the air, there is enough of a gap between them that they can catch a glimpse of the waning crescent moon and a few of the stars surrounding it.<p>

"Indeed." The second citizen says in agreement. Thus the two of them step onto the bridge and proceed into the town. In a section of the plains not far off from the town, a lone Sharpea senses something amiss in a nearby bush and walks over to investigate it. Using it's miniscule nose to sniff out whatever it is that it is sensing, it ends up peaking his head through the leaves, where it sees a distorted dark blue, violet and black pulsating orb roughly the size of it's pupil being formed in front of it's eyes. But it doesn't stay that size for long, for after a second it has become the size of it's head, and in two more it has become as big as it's entire body. Fearing for it's life, the Sharpea turns around and gets ready to flee. However, a second of hesitation causes the wall of the orb to touch the beast's tail.

And that right there is enough to seal the poor thing's fate, as no matter how hard it tries to build up a momentum by shuffling it's feet, it cannot escape the pull of the orb as it continues to grow. The sensation the Sharpea experiences can be compared to that of a black hole, as it's molecules are broken down bit by bit until it is eventually fully consumed by the orb. With no other living creatures in sight, the only other things the orb consumes as it expands is the multitude of foliage in the area and the dust that rises up as the bottom portion of it scrapes along the ground. Eventually it grows to the approximate size of a large stadium dome, and with it's growth now done the suctioning noise is replaced by that of a quiet, steady heartbeat...

**CLASH OF THE ELEMENTS MOVIE 1:**

**THE REBIRTH OF SUBSPACE**

The following day, in a lone, humble looking wooden household in the Mushroom Kingdom that has the familiar sign on the front that says "Mario", we find a certain young boy with medium length brown hair, blue eyes, a brown t-shirt with complimenting blue jeans and a black glove wrapped around his right hand leaning elbow first against the arm of a comfy leather love seat that rests in the living room. While the rest of his body lays on the proper side, his eyes boringly gaze at the small TV screen in front of him, which is currently stuck on the News Channel, which is known by all as the Shroom Channel Daily News. As of now the topic being discussed is the weekly weather. Not surprisingly, the forecast calls for Sunny with a small chance of clouds for every day of the week in Toad Town. After letting out a tired yawn, the boy uses his left arm to reach out and grab the Shroom Shake that sits all by itself on the glass table in front of him, lifting the rim of the can up to the tip of his lips and letting the reddish-brown liquid flow between both them and his teeth until the inside of his mouth is full, at which point he seals his lips and swallows it down with one mighty gulp. As he goes and places the can back onto the table, a sudden Emergency Broadcast program comes up on the TV screen.

"We interrupted this scheduled broadcast to bring you this important news bulletin live from the Beanbean Kingdom! As you can see from our footage here today..." His eyes widening in interest, the boy decides to sit up and lean forward to pay closer attention to what is being said. As the news broadcaster continues to speak, the boy keeps a stern eye on the footage, which reveals a massive swirling dark blue, violent and black orb in the center of the normally serene plains outside of the Beanbean Castle Town. "...It is unknown just where this mysterious orb came from, but eye witnesses report seeing the thing sucking in everything in sight as it continuously grew in size. We will now hand things over to one of our top reporters on the ground, Kaylie Koopa, as she speaks to one of Beanbean's longest living rulers, Queen Bean, about the current situation."

The camera, which unknown to most is being carried around by the fishing rod of a Lakitu, flies down to ground level, which it then proceeds to focus on a young female Koopa with a pink shell who is currently wearing a light-blue news vest, some square reading glasses, and a little make-up to add a somewhat reddish glow to her cheeks. In the grasp of her two hands is a microphone, which she keeps held low enough below her chin to avoid any static. After nodding once to acknowledge and thank her cameraman, Kaylie begins to speak. "Thank you Minda for the introduction. Now as you can see here around me, the orb has already been surrounded by a ring of police tape to keep any citizens from attempting to examine it. We have also received word that the M.S.I. is sending in one of their top men to personally check up on this strange occurrence and find out what it is and what kind of threat it may or may not pose to our fair Kingdom. Here with us today to give their input on this matter is the ruler of these fair lands, Queen Bean, and accompanying her is her ever loyal yet sometimes crazy assistant, Lady Lima."

After her professional, confident introduction, the young news reporter turns to the left and raises her mic up into the air so it's closer to the person she is interviewing, who is a large, portly green woman wearing a stretching orange dress buttoned together by a single pink brooch. Her wide, toothy frown shows the distress she is feeling in the face of this current crisis, while her accomplice, a stout, long-nosed old green woman wrapped in a yellow cloak that is made distinguishable by the red and white jagged stripes on her sleeves and hat, keeps a smile on her face despite her left eye twitching in the face of Kaylie's comment. "Miss Queen Bean, do you think this orb poses a threat to you or your lands?" The little reporter asks. Switching to a grin, the Queen lets out a jolly laugh before she lets her answer be known. "Hohoho! To be fair, I have no clue about this strange phenomenon. Never before in the history of our fair Kingdom, nay, the world has there ever been any record of such a thing every coming into existence. But we are not worried. Should this turn out to be a threat though, I've already told Prince Peasley to have my soldiers ready to strike at it." "I see...So what about-"

Before any more questions are asked, the boy shuts the TV off with a press of the button on the nearby remote control and swiftly gets up on his own two threat to stretch his two tired arms over the top of his head. Once he is done, he wiggles his arms around and lowers them down by his sides, with a smile that says "I'm ready to go" gleaming brightly on his face. "Hmmm, don't know why, but there is something...Familiar, about that orb. Well, Mario and Luigi are both off at Peach's Castle since Mallow came down for a visit, so I got nothing else to do...Besides, I bet Gemini will be the agent being sent to investigate whatever that orb might be, so it'll be nice to see how he is doing as well." After doing a couple more stretches to wake up the rest of his muscles, the boy energetically rushes out the front door. In doing so, he ends up waking up a flower who before then was resting peacefully in a soil filled light-brown clay pot while the rays of the morning sun caused him to under-go photosynthesis.

It takes two seconds for the floral creature named Driad to steadily creak it's eyelids open and look out at the boy as he kneels down in preparation for his take-off into the skies. To recap for those who may have forgotten, Driad is a Crayzee Dayzee with a body made up of nothing but vines and his head surrounded by teal-blue petals. He is the last living survivor of the Elemental Overlord's legacy, and the former Outside Guardian of the Nature Castle. After the titanic battle between the successor of both the Elemental Overlord and the Dark King had come to a close, Driad reconstructed the damaged parts of the Osagi Woods where he once lived along with helping with the relief efforts in Toad Town, Koopa Village, and Goomba Village. After that, he has chosen to live contently with the Mario Bros. alongside the boy who he now calls his master. The same boy who at the moment he is currently looking at. And his name is Alex Whiter.

"Uuugh...Alex, what is going on?" The weary flower asks while lifting a portion of his vine out of the soil to scratch the front of his forehead. Alex glances over his shoulder with that smile still on his face, only at the moment he is having a hard time keeping that expression going when he is starting to feel a bit guilty for accidentally awakening his friend. "Heh, sorry about that Driad. I hate to just head off like this, but something is going on in the Beanbean Kingdom and as the Elemental Overlord it is my duty to step in whenever anything suspicious pops up. So could you tell Mario and Luigi about my whereabouts when they get back?" "Sure...Assuming I don't slink back into a slumber before they return..." After the warrior of the garden leans his head back and lets out a quiet yawn, Alex gives him a thumbs up and shifts his head so he is looking up towards the sky. He takes a few seconds to look back and forth in order to make sure that he doesn't jump right into the path of a passing by airplane like he did once before. With the air clear of such a vehicle, the young Overlord rockets into the air, and upon reaching the proper height he points his body in the right direction and flies off at such breakneck speeds that he almost leaves behind a sonic boom in his wake.

It takes him all of a minute to reach his destination, and as he flies over Stardust Fields he decreases his speed to the point that he is going at a walking pace once he sees the tip of the warped looking orb appearing on the horizon. Ten seconds later, Alex flips his body around so his feet are pointed at the ground and he descends upon the area where Kaylie Koopa is wrapping up her interview with Queen Bean and Lady Lima. With the act of the young reporter bowing her head in respect out of the way, the two royal figures say their goodbyes and walk back across the nearby bridge into town. Afterwards, the Koopa turns herself around, and upon seeing the Elemental Overlord standing before her she lets out an excited squeal before quickly catching herself and returning to her more focused attitude with a single cough. Waving her arm to tell the Camera Lakitu to follow her, Kaylie starts to approach Alex.

The boy, unaware of the two of them coming his way, looks around for any familiar faces, but all he sees is a rather familiar chopper looming behind a giant tree in the distance. "So he has already arrived..." Before Alex can seek out whoever "He" is, he is interrupted by a certain reporter drawing his attention towards her with a wave of the mic in front of his field of vision. Turning his head to the left, he graciously smiles at the camera as it's pointed right at him and politely invites the female Koopa to hold the microphone close to his face by waving the fingers of his right hand towards his body. Complying to his wishes, Kaylie does exactly that, her fingers rattling nervously as she is overcome by a feeling of excitement due to the fact that she is about to interview the savior of the planet.

"We are back once again folks, as the one and only Elemental Overlord has appeared just now to investigate this mysterious phenomenon. So tell us, almighty conqueror of the eternal darkness, have you been able to determine what kind of threat this orb poses to our world?" With the question laid out in front of him, Alex extends one of his hands out in front of his stomach before he starts talking. "Sadly, no. Though I feel like I've seen this type of substance before, I'm incapable of remembering all the details at present. But don't worry..." The young Overlord turns his head to the left, and sees a Koopa with a yellow shell walking about around the circumference of the orb with some sort of scanning device in his right hand. "For now, I can assure both you and the rest of the populace that you are in good hands. Now I hate to cut things short here, but there is someone I need to talk to right now..." After answering the reporter's question with the utmost respect for her position, Alex turns to the left and leaps over the police tape to meet up with the yellow-shelled Koopa, leaving Kaylie to relieve herself of her excitement with one nice long sigh.

Shifting our point of view over to said Koopa, we discover that he is yet another familiar face. To the people of Plit, he is known as "The Blood Thunder" and the Lieutenant of the M.S.I., but to both his friends and the other members of the base he lives in, his real name is known to them as Gemini. With his eyes of purple, a mechanical right arm, and a red scarf wrapped around the lower section of his left arm that has remained untouched despite the many battles he has been in, it is quite obvious to see how he is not only easily identifiable among yellow-shelled Koopas, but among the rest of his species as well. With that being said, the calm and collected Lieutenant taps down onto the green screen of his octagonal metal scanner, which causes the spherical tip of the antenna to glow red. Once he has done this he sticks said glowing tip into the orb and waits for the results to come up. With his mind completely focused on this process, he fails to notice Alex coming his way until he is standing about a foot behind him.

"Yo! Gemini!" The young Overlord hollers out, which causes the Koopa to flinch and in turn almost causes the scanner to get disrupted by the vibrations being sent through his body. "Alex...What are you doing here?" He says quietly, but in such a way that it sounds like he is trying to avoid having a conversation with his friend. "Just checking up on the situation. You?" The boy says with a grin, his mind oblivious to the tone of which Gemini spoke in. "Alpha assigned me here to scan this orb to see if it is composed of any recognizable materials, and then report back to him if the results come up negative." Though Alex failed to catch on to the way his friend had spoken just a moment ago, he does pay attention to the fact that the Koopa is trying his hardest to make sure that the scarf of his arm is hidden from view, and that his lips are moving in such a way that it is easy for the young Overlord to make out what he is saying. "But why did she have to be here on this day..." Is what he is saying from under his breath.

"Huh?" Puzzled as to why the Koopa Lieutenant made such a comment to himself, Alex glances over his shoulder to look at Kaylie, who at the moment is the only female in the area, as she spends her time waiting patiently for an update of some sort while she speaks to her ever loyal Camera Lakitu. Then he looks back at Gemini, who was also glancing over his shoulder at the time, until he catches his friend looking at him, at which point he quickly looks back at his scanner without saying a word. After a couple more times of looking back and forth between the two Koopas, the young Overlord lets out a snicker that is muffled out by him leaning the side of his right hand against his mouth. "Got something funny you wish to share there Alex?" Gemini says in a lightly irritated tone of voice.

"So, what is your relation to the reporter?" Alex asks in a cheery tone. "That's none of your business." The Koopa bluntly retorts while wiggling his left arm around ever so slightly. "I noticed that you are trying to keep your scarf hidden from her. Did she give that to you a long time ago?" "No. Now stop pestering me about her and let me concentrate." There is a second or two of silence where the young Overlord hesitates before deciding to ask one more question. "Was she your girlfriend?" At that point, the scanner lets out a small beep, which conveniently happens at the same time that Gemini snaps. The Koopa promptly turns around and uses one hand to draw his trident from his shell, which is soon after shoved prongs first underneath Alex's chin. The boy doesn't flinch though, for he knows his friend won't harm him in any way.

"Listen here Alex. You may be my friend, you may be the Elemental Overlord, but if you ask even one more question about me and Kaylie, I will not hesitate to kick your ass here and now, you got it?" In the face of Gemini taking a rather defensive approach to his constant pestering, Alex decides that it would be wise to relent before his friend is pissed off any further. "I'm sorry, it was wrong of me to pursue something that you obviously don't wish to mention." It takes all of five seconds for Gemini to calm himself down and withdraw his trident back into his shell, and upon doing so the two friends share a breath of relief, only for the Koopa Lieutenant to get back to work only a moment afterwards as he lifts the scanner up in front of his chest in order to see the results. The green screen on there that usually reveals the composition of whatever it is that the wielder chooses to scan has instead been replaced by a glowing dark red "ERROR!" sign.

"So that's how it is huh..." After confirming the results and guiding his fingers over to the small black switch on the right side of the device, Gemini shuts it down and places it inside of his shell before taking his right hand and using his pointer finger to tap a miniature device attached to the side of his head. "Whatcha doing there now?" Alex curiously asks, not even bothering to question just what the results of the scan were despite how important it might've been for him to know. "Setting up a com. link with the other members that are investigating their own assigned orbs." Gemini quickly responds, taking a moment to cover the device with the appropriate hand due to not wanting the others to hear him conversing with Alex. "Wait, there are more orbs on Plit than just this one?" The young Overlord says as his body stumbles back a step in shock.

"Counting this one there is only three at the moment, though Commander Alpha suspects that this is only the start of something bigger, so he sent me and couple key agents out to check out different aspects of this phenomenon and then report back when everything checks out ok. I was assigned to this orb to check the composition, as you already know, Field Agent Torvus was assigned to the orb in Water Land in order to see if any weaponry could disrupt it's structure, and Snidek of the Shadows was told to check on the orb that spawned first near the forests outside of the Mushroom Village in order to see if any hostiles might end up spawning from it. Now I'm going to have to ask you to be silent for the time being Alex, this device of mine can only pick up the sound waves of one person at a time...Any more join in and we will run the risk of the radio signal getting broken up." Having been asked to do that task with the utmost politeness, the young Overlord complied to his friend's wishes, signifying said compliance by moving two fingers across the front of his lips to pretend that he is sealing them up like a zipper.

Once that is done and the two exchange a respectful nod, Gemini removes his hand from the device and begins to speak into it. "This is Lieutenant Gemini checking in. Results have come up negative, respond with an update of your status within five seconds." _"This is Field Agent Torvus. I've tried everything possible. EMPs, missiles, and geothermal lasers, but the orb managed to absorb them all without any noticeable changes on the outside, over." "This is Snidek. I haven't seen any signs of movement and with no ripples vibrating along the surface I think it's safe to say that these orbs aren't meant to teleport anything to our world, over." _As the two agents report on their situations, Gemini can be seen visibly nodding as he is able to easily understand what is going on. Once they are done, Gemini places his hand over the device so he can relay the info over to Alex.

"None of our tech is doing anything yet it seems as though nothing threatening is emerging from the orb. What is your take on all this Alex?" The young Overlord grabs a hold of both of his arms with the opposite hands and presses them against his gut as he stares into the sky to think things through. "Hmm...I vaguely remember seeing these types of orbs before, but I don't know, the facts aren't adding up..." Before he chooses to say anymore though, he shifts his eyes down to look at Gemini, who is looking rather worried as his own eyes are looking off to the right in the same direction where his device is located, as he begins to hear a buildup of static interference mixed in with the panicked screams of his two comrades. _"Bzzrrt...Gem..Bzzrt...Stran...Bzz...ures...Bugs...Zzzrrrt...Ru...ssssssssssssssssss..." "Gemini...brrzzzt...Enemies have suddenly...*crackle*...I'm being overwhe...ssssssssssss"_ And then, the signals die out simultaneously, instead being replaced by a long, high-pitched screech that forces the Koopa to shut his device off before he goes death, his pupils shrunk in horror as his mind suspects the worse. "They're...dead." He whispers to himself.

"What is that?" The sound of Kaylie's perplexed sounding voice causes both Alex and Gemini to turn themselves around to investigate just what was her startled. Standing all by its lonesome near both the bushes and the edge of the orb is a creature that is unfamiliar to the Lieutenant, but not to the young Overlord. This stout creature has a curved olive-green body with a silver saucer shaped ring connecting the round, onyx-colored head to it. On top of the head is a cylinder shaped hat that not only has the same coloring as his body, but is as tall as his head to boot, with a thin red antenna attached to the center of it. It's two red oval shaped eyes are surrounded by thick white lines, it's gaze looking absolutely lifeless as it refuses to blink even once. The creature's black, limp and rather noodle-like in appearance limbs have attached to them two light-brown four-fingered gloves and two similarly colored boots.

"I remember now. These mysterious phenomena are known as Subspace Orbs...And the creature that just appeared is part of the Subspace Army, with the name 'Primid' being given to it." Alex says in a somewhat serious tone as he moves his body around to get into a fighting pose with his fists clenched on both of his sides. Reacting appropriately to the appearance of this rather unknown to him creature, Gemini quickly pulls the prongs of his trident out of his shell and with a thought the rod extends for him to grasp onto as he holds onto it backhanded. "Since you seem to have recalled just what this thing is, tell me if there is anything I need to worry about before I strike it down." "Not really. These enemies are basically fodder, what with their slow movement speed and rather tame attacks."

But unbeknownst to the two of them thanks to them being unable to see it from this viewpoint, this Primid has two small bronze exhaust pipes sticking out of its back that are clearly not just for show, as it is about to now demonstrate by activating them. As the blue flames roar out of the holes in the pipes, Gemini is quick to catch their appearance from where he stands, and as the creature dashes forward towards a frozen in place Kaylie with its orange glowing fist held behind it's back ready to strike, it's life is unexpectedly cut short when the Lieutenant's swiftly flung trident impales itself right into the side of the Primid's head, knocking it straight off and causing the rest of the body to fall flat on the ground due to its balance now being thrown off. Instead of blood coming from its body though, a series of black dots surrounded by a hazy violet glow scurry out as the entire thing starts to dissolve and in turn create more of them. Once the Primid has vanished complete, these "Shadow Bugs" fly back into the orb from whence it came, and Gemini uses a slight magnetic pulse to call his trident back into the palm of his right hand.

"You were saying..." He confidently says while spinning his trident around in front of him. Alex, however, ignores that and keeps shifting his eyes back and forth as he awaits the emergence of more enemies. Meanwhile, Kaylie, who is breathing heavily with a hand pressed against her chest as she tries to come to terms with the fact that she was only seconds away from death, turns her head to look at her savior. But when she does show, she lets out a quiet gasp that is followed up by a momentary pause as she sees that the one that the Elemental Overlord referred to as "Gemini" is wearing a familiar red scarf on his left arm. As memories of events she had tried so hard to forget begin to rise up to the surface, the confused reporter understandably turns herself around and walks a few feet away to gather her thoughts while also trying to reassure herself that the person she is seeing is not who she thinks it is.

"Why does the Lieutenant of the M.S.I. have his scarf on his arm? It couldn't be that he is...No, get a grip Kaylie. It is just a coincidence, yeah...I mean after all, many people probably wear red scarves on their left arms...Yeah, it can't possibly be him..." With her mind distracted by her own personal concerns, the reporter fails to notice a Primid holding a golden gun with a scope standing behind her with energy charging in the barrel. The Camera Lakitu tries to alert her with all of his might, but with his words falling on death ears she can do nothing as a yellow superheated shot is fired from the gun.

It's lucky for her though that Alex's vision is keen, for he quickly teleports behind her and cuts the shot in half with a sword strike so swift that it is almost a blur to the normal eye. At the same time, the act of slashing sends out a wave of flame that splits the Primid in half and causes it to dissolve just like the one before it. The crackling sound the fire makes as it moves across the ground is enough to bring Kaylie to her senses as to what is occurring around her. When she turns around, she sees that the young Overlord has taken up a defensive stance with his sword grasped in both hands as it's held at level with his pelvis area.

"I'll stay here and keep these two protected! You can take care of the other enemies for now, right?" With his eyes looking over to his battle-ready friend, it can be seen that he is currently prepared to confront five Primids that just emerged from the orb. Two of them have a red coloring on their bodies but with a big red "X" across their face instead of the two eyes like the previous ones, two of them are wielding an energy sword with a sky blue-ish glow in their right hands while their faces have one eye that consists of a small red dot with a really thick white line surrounding it, and the last one is a gigantic version of the normal ones who lumbers behind the row of the other four while it's completely blank face somehow manages to draw a bead of sweat from Gemini's forehead as it gazes down onto him. But it was not created out of fear, but because he is excited to fight again after so long.

"Creatures drawn from the unknown...Make your first move." Stopping himself in the middle of his invite to the Primids to attack him, Gemini shuts his eyelids halfway as his glare pierces deep into whatever part of the creatures you could claim to be their souls and waves the fingers of his other hand out to taunt them even further. Being the emotionless creatures that they are, they are totally unaffected by the Lieutenant's attempts at intimidation, and without so much as a thought the Sword Primids run forward to deliver the first attack. As they stand on the tip of their left foot, the two creatures spin themselves around with their swords extended out in front of them for the maximum possible range. The Lieutenant takes a cautious step back to avoid the first slashes, and then raises his trident to block the second blows, which throws off the Primid's momentum and almost causes their arms to be ripped right from their bodies.

Acting quickly on this, Gemini overpowers the two creature's offense by dropping his trident right on top of his feet, pulling his arms back with the palms surging with electricity, then thrusting both of them out at the same time to strike the Primids in the chest area to sending them flying away from him with their bodies spinning rapidly around until they are dissolved into "Shadow Bugs" thanks to the massive hole that was blown into the center of their bodies by the electric burst that the Lieutenant attacked them with causing enough damage to keep their solidified forms stable. While the "Bugs" float down towards the ground, the Fire Primids are the next to attack, as they march forward beside each other with the Giant Primid following not soon after.

As the remnant of the sparks are absorbed back into Gemini's body, he pulls his arms back and back flips to just narrowly avoid a fireball that was spat at him by the left Fire Primid while at the same time kicking his trident with both feet to propel it high into the air above him. With it's target missed, the ball of fire impacts with the nearby bushes and ignites them in a furious blaze, though it's presence is only short-lived due to Alex flinging a ball of water into it to put it out before it has a chance to spread. With that out of the way, the young Overlord turns his head to the right as both he and his friend exchange a nod of appreciation before Gemini can no longer see Alex due to flipping his body around and landing down with his knees bent and one hand resting on the ground with his eyes refusing to let his enemy escape from his sight.

Next up, the Fire Primids rear their heads back and cross their arms in front of their neck braces. Before they've finished charging however, Gemini kicks his feet off the ground to dash towards them and reels his right arm back to try and punch the left Primid, only for him to be forced to grind to a halt as the Giant Primid stamps it's right foot down in front of him to block his way momentarily as his companions have built up within their "mouths" the maximum level of heat necessary for their next attack. So as the Giant pulls it's foot up, the two Fire Primids move their arms out of the way and lower their heads to release a steady stream of fire from within that the Lieutenant just manages to avoid by jumping to the left, though the flames come dangerously close to scorching his legs.

Thinking he is safe now that he is out of the line of fire, Gemini fails to realize that the creatures can still move their heads despite the amount of effort being put into doing their flamethrower attack. One Primid shifts their head to the right to target the Lieutenant, while the other one turns to the left to try and burn the spectators due to assuming that they are defenseless. Of course, Alex swiftly proves their line of thinking wrong by summoning a wall of water around himself with a snap of the fingers, Kaylie, and the Camera Lakitu that turns the fire into smoke once it makes contact with it. And the young Overlord effortlessly keeps the wall up with only a thought until the Fire Primid gives up and turns his head around to join his partner in targeting Gemini.

Up until that point, the Lieutenant had managed to avoid the first flamethrower by side flipping back and forth through the air. But with the prospect of another one joining in to pressure him even further, Gemini decides to set up a defense before he burns to cinders. Raising one hand into the air mid-flip, the electricity-infused Koopa uses a magnetic pull to call his trident back to him, grasping onto the rod with both of his hands while pointing it down towards the ground. Once he lands, he quickly raises his weapon above his head and slams it into the ground, surrounding himself with a static barrier that successfully prevents the flamethrowers from reaching him. But he knows he can't stay in there for long, especially considering that the Giant Primid is getting ready to break through his defense with his pulled back glowing right fist.

To counter all three of his opponents at once, Gemini twists his trident ninety degrees to the left to reverse the polarity of his electricity and causing the barrier to spread out all-around and pushing back the flames into the "mouths" of the Fire Primids. With too much combustible particles being shoved into them at once, the creatures heads explode only five seconds after the barrier has expanded to the point of being too stretched out to keep it's stable form, but before it vanishes it makes contact with the Giant Primid and causes it to get briefly paralyzed, giving the Lieutenant just enough time to lift his trident out of the ground and fling it prongs first right through the giant's head, dealing enough damage just like with the rest of the enemies and causing it along with the Fire Primids to dissolve into "Shadows Bugs".

Now no longer being able to sense the enemies' strange presences, Alex drops the wall of water and sees Gemini standing both triumphant and virtually unscathed from his battle. As the Lieutenant walks forward with his eyes closed while clapping the palms of his hands together to dust them off, Kaylie peaks out from behind the young Overlord and takes another look at this mysterious yet familiar yellow-shelled Koopa. "Who is he?" Her question, which she would've rather preferred stayed in her head as a thought, gets overheard by Alex, and his quick response sends a jolt through the reporter's nerves that causes her to flinch due mainly in part to the fact that she was so focused on Gemini that she failed to realize her mistake until just that moment.

"Him? That's the infamous Gemini of the Blood Thunder, Lieutenant of the M.S.I., and one of my closest friends." The way the young Overlord speaks not only shows how strong the bond of friendship is between the two of them is, but his tone is also laced with a strong sense of honor for the way that Gemini had bravely fought and won his battle. As Kaylie's eyes widen and her pupils shrink, she slaps her forehead upon realizing what a complete idiot she has been. "Gah! Why didn't I see it sooner...The yellow shell, the blood-stained cloth, the name..." After berating herself she slowly draws her hand away from her face as her expression has become heavy with sadness and a bit of guilt being noticeable in her melancholy frown. "And to think...That for even a moment I tricked myself into believing that there was even a glimmer of hope that he was still alive after all this time..." This insight into her momentary lapse of foolishness manages to stay inside her thoughts, luckily for her though; Alex still has something to say to her despite not knowing about what she is thinking of.

"Blood-stained cloth? Hehehe...Hate to be rude here, but for a reporter you don't seem to know your facts very well. Then again, this isn't something that is very well known about Gemini anyways, so I guess I can't blame you for getting things mixed up." Alex humorously states with a shrug of the shoulders and a shake of the head. "He isn't called Gemini of the Blood Thunder because he wipes the blood of his enemies onto that scarf of his. Quite the opposite actually...He is called that because no matter how many times he draws blood from his foes, he has never once allowed even a single drop to land on that scarf. I don't know why he fights like that, but I guess that scarf has to be like some sort of valuable heirloom or a parting gift from a comrade who died on the battlefield if he tries so hard to avoid getting it stained."

With the truth of the matter now revealed to her, Kaylie stands speechless for a few moments as she thinks back to a period in time six years ago, when someone she once knew departed from the place where they lived, never to be seen again. _"...There is one thing I want you to have though before you leave." "There...Now, until the day that your transformation takes hold, you can look at that scarf, and remember that no matter what happens, I will never forget that you were my friend...Ko-." "...I don't care what you think, I don't care what they say, I believe that there is some way for you to return to normal...But if you have to leave for our own sake, then promise me that you will never give up hope, don't let yourself be taken over by whatever it is that plagues you...And...And...I'm sorry...For never..."_ As the final words of that heart wrenching memory echo continuously inside her head, a teardrop forms in the corner of her left eye, and as it trickles slowly down her cheek she takes the upper part of her vest and wipes it clean off of her face. A light sniffle being heard from her as she starts to get overcome with feelings of regret. "All this time...And I still haven't been able to let go of the past...All because I was a foolish little girl who lacked the courage to let my feelings be known...In the end, I just wanted him to know that I-"

"Gemini! Watch out behind you!" Alex's panicked utterance of those words snapped the reporter out of her momentary depression just in time for her to witness the events unfolding before her eyes in full capacity. For at that very moment, the remaining "Shadow Bugs" are swarming together behind the unaware Lieutenant and fusing together to create a new, more powerful creature to face down the obstacle that blocks "their" path of conquest. Once they have merged into the proper shape, the fuzzy, bumpy texture is replaced with that of the new creature's true form.

Gemini turns around to see the new combatant that his friend has warned him about. With a black body that resembles a pot with two small light-red jeweled wheels on the bottom allowing it to move around with ease, it's arms are simply four giant sickles, two for each side of the body that rotate all around their orb-shaped shoulders while the tips of the blades carve up the ground as if it were butter. The small head that is connected to the rest of the body by a series of intertwining nerves is protected by a executioner style metal mask with spikes covering every possible square inch of it. Because of a couple key changes, the young Overlord almost fails to remember the name of this specific creature.

"That's a...Greap? It looks like one, but...Bah, I don't even know!" While he wastes time trying to comprehend what is going on, Gemini acts quickly on his new opponent by calling into existence on the back of his shell his metal demon wings and form-fitting horned helmet onto his head. With the full force of his demonic powers now awakened in his heart and extending out to the rest of his body, the demon Lieutenant spins his trident around once beside himself, skidding the tip of the prongs against the ground to ignite a black spark that follows the weapon as it's raised into the air in the form of a trail of black electricity. He holds the trident up so the rod is at arm's length before pointing it straight at this mysterious new creature.

"You really want to go another round? You sure you don't want to change your form to something less...Metallic?" Having given the creature a fair enough warning, Gemini is quite frankly unsurprised when it lashes one of its scythe blades out at him, which he calmly blocks with a swing of his own weapon without exerting any visible effort, the clashing of the two metals releasing a miniature burst of black sparks that does little to make either fighter flinch. "Alright then..." As the Lieutenant closes his eyelids and sighs, the metal composition of the scythe that struck at him can be seen melting thanks to the super-heated type of electricity circulating through it. "Don't say I didn't warn you." With his expression remaining stoic and his weapon flipped around to a backhanded grip, Gemini does what he did with the first group of enemies and waves his fingers towards himself to invite them to attack.

From the viewpoint of the spectators, the only one concerned for the Lieutenant's safety is Kaylie. The Camera Lakitu is too busy getting footage for later news stories, and Alex knows better than to doubt his friend's strength. "Kaylie, was it?" Taking attention to the young Overlord's question, the reporter raises her head while keeping her eyes focused on the mysterious Koopa's battle. "Y-yes?" She mutters in a scared tone of voice. "I don't know what occurred to you in the past, and I don't what your connection to Gemini is, or his connection to you, but I can say one thing with confidence. You have no reason to worry about him. For as long as he draws a breath, he will keep on fighting 'til the bitter end." Alex's tender words ease the reporter's mind, as she sighs and wipes a sweat drop clean from her forehead. "Now, we got things from here. You should head back to the news station and spread the story around the Kingdom just in case more of these orbs show up."

With a complying nod, both the Camera Lakitu and Kaylie head off, though it takes the reporter tugging her partner by his cloud for him to stop filming the battle between Gemini and the creature that shall now go by the name of the "Death Greap". By this time, the Lieutenant has melted off two of the creature's scythes, and with an opening now available to him he leaps into the air and with one powerful thrust he jams the tips of his trident right into the metal plating of it's spiked helmet. Unloading as much black electricity as he can through the piercings he just made, Gemini pulls his weapon out and leaps off as the creature's "flesh" is overloaded and the head explodes in a burst of "Shadow Bugs", which in turn causes the rest of the body to dissolve into them as well. But before the Lieutenant can do anything about them upon landing on the ground, they fly back into the orb.

Thus, with the battle now won, Gemini reverts back to his original state and retracts the rod of his weapon back into the prongs before storing them into his shell. "Guess that's it..." He says with a sigh of relief as he claps his hands together three times. While he does this, Alex approaches him from behind while tilting his head to look up at the orb. Hearing his friend's footsteps ahead of time, the Lieutenant looks over his shoulders to see that Kaylie has already left. "..." His eyes lying heavy with regret, it takes the act of the young Overlord communicating with him to snap him out of it. "So, what do we do now?" He asks, obviously having no insight of his own on the matter at hand. Gemini turns his body around and begins to walk towards his ride while keeping a hand held in the air to let his friend know that he is still paying attention. "I'm going to head back to base and tell Alpha about what happened. You should head back to Toad Town and tell Mario and the others about this. Anyways, I'll see you later..."

As he enters the aerial vehicle, Alex could've sworn that he heard a hint of sadness in his friend's voice. But as the motor blades go off on top of the chopper and send a breeze across the plains that ruffle both the grass and tree leaves, he realizes that he can't really confront Gemini about that matter at the moment. So as the vehicle rises into the air and flies off, the young Overlord decides that he in turn should do the same. Before he kneels down to launch himself into the air, something whispers to him from within the orb. It's faint, but he is able to make out a couple of words in what seems to be a complete sentence. _"I...Revenge..." _Shaking it off as a hallucination possibly brought on by being in close proximity with the orb, Alex leaps into the air and like a bullet he speeds off back towards Mario's house to first update Driad of the events that unfolded there just now.

In a matter of seconds he is back, but when he slows himself down and lands on the porch, to his surprise he finds that his flowered friend is nowhere to be found. Checking around to see if he might be doing some work on the yard, the young Overlord cautiously walks up the steps just in case there is someone waiting inside the house to ambush him. When at the top, he turns around and glances over the whole yard once again, only to shake his head to correct himself over how paranoid he is acting. "Geez Alex, you shouldn't be worried about the enemy being here. After all, there aren't any orbs within range...But still, wonder where Driad is? I was only gone for about...Not even ten minutes, wow, feels like it was longer than that." Upon wondering about things for a little while longer, the boy comes to the conclusion that should've been obvious from the start.

"Duh!" And with a quick 180 degree turnaround, Alex finds a note nailed to the front of the door addressed directly to him. Pulling it off of there gently to avoid a tear forming on it, the boy holds it up in front of his face to get a better view of the writing. "Alex, by the time you read this, me, Driad, and Luigi have headed on over to E. Gadd's lab to discuss the issue of the Subspace Orbs that have been popping up around Plit. If you read this, come and join us there, because this concerns not just you, but the fate of the planet hangs in the balance as well. Signed, Mario." Releasing the note from his grasp, a light gust of wind blows on by that carries it away while also ruffling the strands of hair on the front of the young Overlord's head. "Well, can't dawdle around here then. Better get moving!" With a single back flip, Alex gets enough height to suspend himself in mid-air for a moment, turn himself around, and fly off in the direction of Toad Town.

When he arrives there, he immediately heads towards the district where the Professor's chrome covered lab can be seen in plain sight and after five more seconds he has landed on the ground with his back turned to the door. Sensing the urgency in Mario's note, Alex turns around and rushes down the stairway to join up with his fellow friends. When he reaches the bottom, he sees all of them sitting around a stainless steel round table with their lifted up in anticipation due to them hearing his footsteps clinkering against the metal stairs as he headed on down. Obviously, I shouldn't have to describe Mario or Luigi's appearance to you; they are iconic enough in this day and age to be recognized all around the world. As for the elderly E. Gadd, he looks just the same as he usually does, with his round, swirly glasses, signature white lab coat and that little mound of hair on the top of his age-spot dotted head being his most recognizable features.

"Sorry I'm late!" Alex says in an overly apologetic tone. "It's alright, ohohoho, though I was beginning to think that you had disappeared from the face of the planet." As E. Gadd brings that up, Alex glares over at Driad, who flinches and begins to shake his head back and forth to try and find a way to divert his friend's attention away from him. "Driad, did you forget to tell them where I headed off to?" With his blunt accusation, the living flower stops fidgeting and lowers his head in shame. "Sorry...I guess since I was so tired and all it just slipped my mind..." Seeing as he looks absolutely guilt-ridden right now, as he pulls one of the chairs out and sits down on it, Alex lets out a sigh and decides to forgive him, to which Driad generously thanks him for by nodding his head once with a smile. "Anyways, I was investigating one of the orbs in the Beanbean Kingdom. Gemini was there on orders from Alpha, but save for a few enemies coming out that were dispatched easily by him there was nothing dangerous about it...Speaking of which, where is Mallow? I thought he had come down for a visit." As he looks back and forth for signs of the cloud Prince, Mario leans forward with his arms resting on the table and an uncharacteristically serious frown on his face.

"He went back to Nimbus Land to prepare the citizens just in case a Subspace Orb were to appear in the area. He said that once he was done there he would come back and help us out." Luigi quickly answers, his expression being just as serious as his brother's. "So what is up with the orbs? You seem to have some experience on the matter if you know what they are composed of Mario." Alex asks while folding his arms behind his head and leaning back to better relax himself. "Well, since you are here now it would be best to not waste any more time. This will be a long story, but an informative one at that, so pay close attention if you will please..." As Mario lifts his head up off the table, everyone stops talking and looks right at him as he begins to weave together a tale from his past, from a time before Alex had arrived on the planet...

_"Unknown to almost the entire populace of Plit, there have been three occasions where me and a few other people from this world have been transported to a strange dimension known as the World of Trophies by a pair of sentient beings known as the Master Hand and the Crazy Hand. Their motives were pure. They wished to see how fighters from other worlds fared against those they had no idea about, a combat to the death. But there was no cause for alarm, they assured us. Because of the world they had created, we had become 'Trophies', and would thus respawn on a holy platform every time we 'Died'. In the end, when we've proven ourselves capable of facing our opponents, we would get a chance to face the Master Hand himself in combat on Final Destination. Whenever someone finally won, we would be sent back to our home world with our memories untouched. _

_The first time around, besides me and Luigi, we were also joined by Yoshi, Donkey, a swordsman in a green tunic named Link, a pink puffball named Kirby, a anthromorphic star pilot named Fox, a bounty hunter named Samus Aran, an electric mouse and another Pink puffball who were apparently called Pikachu and Jigglypuff, as they kept calling themselves whenever we tried to speak with them, a grand prix racer named Captain Falcon, and a boy with telekenetic powers named Ness. It was simple, and we were allowed to fight as we pleased until we wished to take on the 'Classic' Gauntlet, as they so called it. In the end, after conquering both a Metal version of myself and wire-framed clones of the fighters, I defeated the Master Hand and we were sent home, with time having not passed even a second since we departed._

_Then came the second time, this time the fight was escalated to the point that the two hands dubbed it a "Melee". Peach and Bowser were brought in this time, along with a few combatants from Link's world, which surprisingly enough included a younger version of himself, two swordsmen named Roy and Marth, a couple of 'Pokemon' named Pichu and Mewtwo, a two-dimension black man named Game and Watch, Fox's friend/rival Falco, two siblings who called themselves the Ice Climbers, and oddly enough, my Doctor persona was cloned from my memories. This time around, we were allowed to battle in three gauntlets, a revamped 'Classic' one that allowed us to face off against Metal versions of ourselves and if we performed well enough, both hands at the same time, an 'Adventure' gauntlet that consisted of us traveling across a multitude of environments taken from various worlds to reach a battle with a genetically modified clone of Bowser who had the ability to take the form of Giga Bowser, just like the one in our world did when he came in contact with the seven elemental stones, and finally the 'All-Star' gauntlet, which was the toughest of the three, and had us facing off against all the other fighters with little reprieve in between. Unlike before, defeating the Hands in combat didn't allow us to return to our worlds. We instead had to clear through all three gauntlets to be allowed freedom. Fortunately, the most experienced of the swordsmen, Roy, was able to endure this difficult task and we went back home._

_The third time around...Things were very, very different. A plethora of new fighters were brought in. Wario, Olimar and his Pikmin crew, Lucas, Ike, Snake, Sonic, Pit, Toon Link, Diddy Kong, King Dedede, Meta Knight, Wolf, Lucario, and a Pokemon Trainer and his Squirtle, Ivysaur and Charizard. Mewtwo, Roy, Pichu, Dr. Mario, and Young Link did not come back this time though for reasons we never knew...The gauntlets remained pretty much the same, though 'Adventure' was removed and 'Classic' got rid of the Metal battles. However, this time around we were given some more freedom by being allowed to actually explore the so-called World of Trophies that the Hands were discussing in the first place. It was a vast, mysterious world, but there were a couple elements of it that looked similar to locations in our own individual worlds. Taking a liking to said locations, each of us proceeded to wander about trying to determine what the goal of victory was this time around. In time, some of us discovered a stadium where we could fight to our heart's content if we so wanted. We were still allowed to fight in arenas both old and new, but having that world took the ease off of the lonliness we felt for our own home planets, and for a while everything was peaceful..._

_Until that fateful day, when the Subspace Army attacked. Using Meta Knight's famed battleship, the Halberd, to drop "Shadow Bugs" and Subspace Bombs into the stadium. The Bugs formed into creatures called Primids and Spaaks that me, Kirby, Peach and Zelda managed to fight off. However, as I went to disarm the bomb, I was ambushed from behind by a cannonball shot fired off by a foe from my world, Petey Pirahna, and sent my flying for what seemed to be forever, until eventually I landed and collapsed on a lone platform in a place called Skyworld, where my body turn into a trophy until my stand was touched by Pit. Having told each other of the situation, we joined forces and went on a journey across the land to find and try to stop the mastermind behind the Bombs, the Ancient Minister, a strange, crimson cloaked figure. Our efforts proved to be in vain, as we eventually lost track of where he was going._

_After some time, we came across a shadow version of Zelda, who was duplicated thanks to "Shadows Bugs" copying her DNA structure. After defeating it, it just so happened that Link and Yoshi were passing by at that time, with Link mistaking the dissolving of Zelda's trophy as a sign that we had killed her, and acted in a state of blind fury. After I had no choice but to defeat the both of them, which as you can imagine with Yoshi was incredibly hard for me to do due to our relation to one another, they turned into trophies that were promptly snatched by King Dedede on a carrier car. As he spun around and went on his way, I noticed that Peach and Luigi were two of the trophies he had on his trolley, but I could do nothing to catch up to him. Luckily, Kirby came to the rescue and restored Link and Yoshi to their original forms, though he was shooken off before he could get to the others. Once Link and Pit damaged the vehicle with a couple of precise arrow shots, the five of us proceeded to give chase across the lakeside to find Dedede._

_We traveled through a cave and dealt with members of both the Subspace Army AND the Koopa Troop, who Bowser had somehow managed to bring to this world for his own personal use. But once we reached the ruined castle that Dedede was residing in, we found that he was nowhere to be found and that Peach's trophy had been snatched away. Giving chase through a hole in the wall, we eventually came across Bowser, who was carrying her trophy away to some unknown location. Try as we might though, he slipped away into his Clown Coptor and flew off towards the Halberd, leaving us with no choice but to try and find some sort of aerial vehicle with which we would use to pursue the great battleship. During out travels we discovered that more and more parts of the land were getting consumed by the detonated Subspace Bombs, and we chose to divert our attention away from the Halberd to see if we could find the Ancient Minister again. After all, if we stopped him the bombs in turn would stop as well, right?_

_We encountered him again in the Wilds, but when the time came to strike at him, his maneuverability and cunning made it impossible for us to even connect with the backside of his cloak. So once again we went after the Halberd, since we saw is floating close-by over a mountain top, fighting Fox's main HQ, the Great Fox. By the time we got even close enough to the canyon at the bottom of the mountain, the Great Fox had fallen and the Halberd began to drop as many "Shadows Bugs" as it possibly could in order take down the fighters at the bottom, which consisted of Marth, Ike, Lucas, Pokemon Trainer, and the Ice Climbers. The enemies were coming in by the hundreds, and were it not for our intervention they would've been turned into trophies. After that, thanks to the help of Lucario, Snake, Fox and Falco, Meta Knight managed to free both Peach and Zelda from their confinement and reclaimed the Halberd, while also freeing Mr. Game and Watch from the Army's control, which we then later learned that his body was being used to harvest the "Shadows Bugs" that had plagued us so._

_Not very long after that, we were joined by a second group who had been dealing with matters on a floating island called the Isle of the Ancients. That group consisted of Captain Falcon, Pikachu, Samus, Olimar, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, and a fighter we had never seen before, R.O.B. As we soon came to realize, R.O.B. was the Ancient Minister, but he was forced into it by the ruler of Subspace, Tabuu, who told him to either succumb to his will or lose his island forever. Because R.O.B. disliked the treatment of his people, he betrayed one of the Subspace Generals, Ganondorf, which led to a multitude of bombs going off on the isle, causing the creation of the biggest mass of subspace that we had seen yet. But that was only the beginning. Ganondorf and Bowser soon emerged from the orb, commandeering a gargantuan mobile weapon known as the Subspace Cannon, whose namesake could be believed simply for the fact that each shot was like the equivalent of blowing up a Subspace Bomb. _

_As R.O.B. told us as we all went into the Halberd to prepare for battle, Tabuu had planned on massive producing that ship. We knew then and there that we had to somehow destroy that massive ship and get into Subspace to stop Tabuu before that could happen. So Snake, Meta Knight, Zelda, and Captain Falcon devised a plan of action. Meta Knight would set his ship to auto-pilot and use it as a decoy while everyone else got onto the smaller ships to prepare to ride once the ship was blown up by the Subspace Cannon's exterior blasters. While we out-maneuvered the lasers being fired out, Kirby would sneak out of the sinking ship from behind on his Legendary Air Ride, the Dragoon, and fly around at a 180 degree arch to build up speed and ram through the weak point that R.O.B. told us about to destroy it._

_The plan went off without a hitch, and as Bowser and Ganondorf retreated into the massive orb, we followed in after them with the ships to end things once and for all. But upon entering we found that the Subspace Army was much stronger thanks to being in their home realm, and it took many struggles for us to finally reach the heart of the land. But when we got there, we found that Bowser and Ganondorf were already turned into the trophies, and Master Hand, the one that brought us to this World in the first place, was lying on the ground with five wounds bleeding a grotesque, blue liquid thanks to the strings that Tabuu used to manipulate him with, as we later found out. The man responsible for everything was floating right in the air above us...But without saying a word, he summoned a pair of archaic looking wings and sent out a powerful ring called an Off Wave, and in an instant we were all turned into trophies..._

_Every last fighter was down for the count...Tabuu only an hour or so away from merging all of the world fragments together to doom the World of Trophies to oblivion...But hope was not yet lost. Dedede had placed specially designed badges onto both Luigi and Ness earlier on so when no other life forces were detected, the fighters that they were put on would return to their normal states, and he would then proceed into Subspace to gather the fighters and take down Tabuu. Kirby himself had swallowed one of the badges earlier on, so he did his own thing while the other three heroes freed their own set of fighters. Eventually, though it took some heavy convincing from Link and Zelda, we managed to also free Ganondorf and he joined our side for the time being, along with also getting Bowser and Wario to help out too. So we entered the "Great Maze" and split into different groups to cover the four corners, where we had to confront copies of ourselves along with reborn versions of the bosss enemies, such as Petey, Porky, Rayquaza, Ridley and his Metal Form, and the two Subspace Frontline Generals, Galleom and Duon. _

_Along the way, Dedede revealed just why he did what he did. Having seen the Subspace Army taking Meta Knight's ship early on, he caught a glimpse of Tabuu and determined just what kind of threat he posed to the world. So he purposely went around KO'ing the other fighters and placing badges on them for his master plan. We thanked him for doing what he did. So once everyone was taken down, we went to the center of the maze and entered the giant pulsating doors to confront Tabuu once more. But we had forgotten about his Off Waves, and though we looked ready to be trophified once more, Sonic showed up at the last possible second and decimated Tabuu's wings with two quick spin dashes, meaning his threat level had decreased significantly._

_Even so, it took everyone's efforts to take him down, and Sonic even had to access his 'Super' Form in order to deal the final blow once Tabuu saw fit to collapse the entire dimension in order to take us all down with him. With his defeat all of Subspace vanished and the lands returned to the normal, save for the Isle of Ancients, which was hit with too high of a concentration of Subspace to ever have a chance of reforming, leaving R.O.B. as the last of his kind in a world that no one will probably ever return to...Which is why when the Master Hand finally regained consciousness with the help of his brother and he was ready to return us to our worlds once again, I asked him politely if R.O.B. could come back with us. Seeing no problem in that request, the Hands returned us all back, and R.O.B. has been here ever since that day, and we never heard eye or ear of either Subspace or Tabuu..."_

"Until today..." Alex feels fit to say as he is able to catch on to the fact that Mario had reached the end of his story. "That's what it looks like." Luigi responds. As the young Overlord unfolds his arms and begins to lean forward, he closes his eyelids and begins to think to himself about everything that was just said, crumpling his forehead as there is one thing about the tale that has him puzzled. But before he can let his problems be known, Driad interjects. "Now hold on a moment. Didn't you say that the Subspace realm vanished? If that's the case, then how could these orbs be popping up now?" As he looks intently at Mario for the answer, he finds that the plumber has gone completely silent, but that's only because he knows not the answer to that question. "I got nothing to really say on the matter Driad. Perhaps I should've worded things better...While it is true that the masses of Subspace created by the Bombs vanished, we had no way of confirming for certain if the actual realm was erased. It is possible that Tabuu wasn't killed, but he did explode right before our very eyes...It's also possible that someone else usurped control of the realm after its master died out."

"I doubt that second theory highly." Alex is quick to interrupt. Interested to hear his friend's thoughts, Mario rests his arms against the table and raises an eyebrow to wait for what he has to say. "Before I left the Beanbean Kingdom, I heard someone whispering to me from within the orb...I didn't recognize whose voice it was, but they spoke of 'Revenge', so it only makes sense that Tabuu somehow survived his encounter with all of you guys." "Hmm...Seems sound, but what is his purpose in targeting the areas that orbs have been summoned in so far? And more importantly, how are the orbs even being created in the first place if he no longer has access to the Bomb Factory?" All these pressing questions weighed heavily on the heroes' minds. But fortunately, there was someone watching over them on a computer screen at that very moment who could easily answer one of their concerns. Reaching his mechanical hand out to press a lone button on a nearby dashboard, the heroes are surrounded by a field of sparkles as their visibility quickly fades away due to them being teleported to the location where their observer currently resides at.

Within seconds the five heroes along with their table have arrived in a spherical room with a series of monitors, electronic devices, and blinking colored lights covering the walls around them. When they finally realize that they are not in the Professor's lab, all but E. Gadd looks about the area with obviously puzzled expressions. Being somewhat familiar with this room though, the stout old man gets out of his chair and walks around the table so he is standing on the first step of the staircase with his head held up to gaze upon two golden, bulky, metallic arms that are resting on the arms of a turnaround leather chair. Standing beside that chair is the proud Lieutenant of the M.S.I., Gemini, which to Mario and Luigi is a tip-off sign as to where they are now at, as it is to Driad and Alex too once they twist themselves around to look at him.

"Well well, bringing us to your main headquarters with a push of a button. I didn't know you were capable of doing such a thing, Commander." As E. Gadd does his signature laugh and nudges his glasses upward, we take a look at the person he is referring to. He is a Goomba that is slightly bigger than the average sized one, with two arms made completely out of metal and wires, a black eyepatch on his right eye that covers up most of the X-shaped scar that surrounds it, and a trenchcoat of the same color on his body. In his base and by those who respect him he is referred to by the title of Commander, but to everyone else his real name is known as Alpha. He is the one who runs things in the M.S.I., or the Mushroom Spy Industry as it is sometimes known. Being the main reason why Gemini was deployed on a mission to help Mario with the rebirth of the Elemental Overlord, he himself also saw fit to join up with them later on, and was a valuable ally for the remainder of the journey, even if he did usually keep things to himself...

Turning his chair around to look down on the heroes, his almost invisible smile is enough of a "Welcome" sign as any for the group. "It's nothing too hard...Just had to figure out how the extract some of the energy that is poured into the bottom of warp pipes and then in turn...Ok, actually, it is rather hard to explain, so I'll tell you later. Either way, I welcome you all to my Command Sphere, which rests deep within the heart of the M.S.I. base; I assume nothing was lost in transition? A couple of test runs of this teleportation mechanism did result in the loss of some particularly vital organs." Realizing all too soon that they could die if what Alpha says is true, the heroes begin to panic and start doing various things to test out their bodily functions, such as breathing, muscle flexing, and biting. Of course, it turns out Alpha just made a humorous quip to have a little fun before things got serious, and after assuring them all that they are fine his expression quickly turns serious as he turns his chair back around and begins to type things up on the keyboard in front of him.

Once the proper inputs have been entered, the screens change to show the places where the Subspace Orbs have sprouted up at so far. Besides the locations Gemini had mentioned to Alex earlier, it can be seen that Stardust Fields, the outside of Sarassaland, and Shiver Valley have all become victims of these otherworldly phenomena. "In the last hour, three new orbs have sprung up in the locations that you can see on the screens before you...And thanks to the info Lieutenant Gemini has given me, I can confirm for certain that not only are these things incapable of being disrupted by the technology we have in this base, but they are also meant to call forth soldiers for that 'Subspace Army' that Mario mentioned in his story." "You were listening in on that?" Mario quickly asks, to which the Commander replies with a scoff and a brief sentence. "It wouldn't be the first time I did that...But yes, I did."

With a few more clicks of the keyboard's keys, an overhead map of the entire Mushroom, Beanbean, and Sarassaland Kingdoms appears across the screens, with a glowing dark blue dot marking the exact locations of the Subspace Orbs that have appeared thus far. "And because I was listening in, I'm positive that I can answer one of the question you brought up before I teleported you all here. If you would kindly direct your attention towards the monitor for a moment gents..." Moving their gazes away from the chair that the Commander sits upon, all the seated heroes stare do just what he asked them to do, and after a few more key clicks some plain red dots appear around the map. But they aren't scattered across a variety of places, but instead if you were to connect them together with one continuous line you would find that they form a symbol that is easily recognized by the Mario Bros.

"That's the insignia that most members of the Subspace Army wear on their bodies!" Luigi blurts out, standing up out of his chair while pointing his left pointer finger up at the screens. "Is that what it is? ..." As Alpha's mind starts to work he puts his hands together and rests the elbows on the arms of the chair. Beside him is Gemini, who glares wide-eyed at a particular inactive dot on the eastern side of the map. His left arm trembling as the face of his face begins to look distraught. Then, without any forewarning, he turns himself around and storms down the stairs in a manner that's rather inconsistent with his personality. Before he reaches the door though, Alpha stops him with a few words. "Where do you think you are going, Lieutenant?"

Gemini tightly clenches his right hand into the shape of a fist as a cold sweat begins to drip down his face. "Tell me Alpha, are you positive that that is where one of the orbs is gonna show up at?" The Commander's silence only helps to further the Koopa's anger. "WELL?" "...With the data you gave me, I can say for certain that my calculations are accurate. So yes, it will..." "...Then I'm leaving." In the span of a second Alpha spins his chair around and yells out to the rash Lieutenant "Like hell you are! What gives you the right to leave without permission? You've been loyal to a fault for years already, and never once have you disobeyed my orders. Isn't that right, Gemini?" The fierceness in the Commander's single glare cuts the tension in the room, and as the Koopa calms himself down, he responds in a tone similar to the emotion that he is feeling at this time. "You're right, Gemini has never disobeyed a command. Unfortunately, Gemini isn't here right now, so I guess his slate will still be clean when he returns..."

Realizing just what the Koopa means by saying that, Alpha eases up on his glare and quietly turns his chair back around with a proud smile on his face. "My apologies, I didn't know that you had returned to the world of the living...I shouldn't have been an inconvenience to you, carry on." With a thankful nod that only the heroes looking at him can notice, the Lieutenant exits through the open and shut doors, leaving the rest of the group bewildered. "What was that all about? Where is Gemini going?" Driad asks out of his concern for his close friend's well-being. "That's known of our concerns. Not mine, not yours, just his...OUR concern, on the other hand, are the positions of the remaining orbs. In particular, the one located in the very center of the symbol. You recognize where it's at?" Diverting the heroes' attention away from that of their now gone friend to the dot that has a golden coloring to it, it is plain to see that it is hovering over the center of a spiral, purple hill.

"Isn't that Shooting Star Summit? ...Wait a minute..." As Alex thinks about the implications of that orb going there, Alpha makes haste to get his explanation across before he can come up with an answer. "No, the orb isn't going to appear on Shooting Star Summit persay. Rather, it's going to appear on the end of the very Star Road itself." Horrorified by the Commander's revelation, all the heroes slam their hands against the table and lift their bodies up while exclaiming an appropriate sounding "WHAT?" E. Gadd tries to do the same, but realizes that doing so would strain his voice too much, and instead stays silent. "Why, why would the Subspace Army target that area?" Alex asks while keep his shocked expression visible.

"The Star Rod. In the hands of the Star Spirits, it helps them keep the dreams and hopes of the people on this world alive. As you saw though beforehand Mario, in the hands of Bowser it almost allowed him to take over the Kingdom. But despite how he acts the Koopa King is not exactly the most malicious of creatures, he does have a soul. However, what if one without a soul was to touch it? In the hands of a wielder who has no deep desires of their own, the Rod will be drained of its power and in turn will cause the stability of the world to crumble until it eventually collapses into itself. So in other words, the Subspace Army CANNOT be allowed to reach Star Haven no matter the costs."

In the face of Alpha's rather grim outlook on the outcome of the heroes' possible failure, Mario stands out of his chair and slams his right fist into his palm. "So what are we waiting for? Let us head up and get ready to repel the enemy!" Though he is happy for the plumber's bravado, the Commander has another plan ready to be put into motion, as he will now detail. "You are going to be needed elsewhere Mario. After all, don't you see that there is a certain town that will need their heroes' protection?" As Alpha talks to the overall wearing man, he spins his chair around and motions his fingers towards the dot to the right of the golden one, to which Mario quickly identifies as Toad Town. He then moves his hands apart from one another and nods his head as he easily understands what the Commander is getting at.

"Alright then, so who will be going to Star Haven then?" Alex asks while leaning back in his chair with a bored look on his face. "Actually, if you don't me making a humble request to you, Mr. Overlord...I would like you to do it." Alpha's overly dignified tone of voice catches the young Overlord completely off-guard as he almost stumbles out of his chair due to swinging his arms around rapidly while he struggles to keep his balance intact. Once he has regained his composure though, he breathes a heavy sigh and lurches forward slightly while keeping one hand on the back of his chair and his eyes focused on the Commander, who in turn is also looking directly at him. "Why me? I mean, I don't mind you asking and all, but wouldn't it be better for me to go into Subspace and confront Tabuu directly?" "You'll get your chance to do that, but don't you agree that it would be in our best interest to repel the forces that'll appear on Star Road beforehand?" "Fair point. Very well, I'll go." Swiftly agreeing to the Commander's kind request after hearing his line of reasoning, Alex stands up and does a nod before turning towards the door and taking a step forward.

"No disrespect to you Alex, but do you even know your way through this base?" E. Gadd's question halts the young Overlord in his tracks, as he freezes in place with an arm raised out in front of him. After lowering both of his arms, he stands silent for a couple of moments before blurting out the following "You know..." He then turns around with a puzzled look on his face as he tilts his head to the left. "I don't..." "That's fine. Just stick around a bit and I'll teleport you over to Star Road." Alpha responds, before looking over at the other heroes to restate the plan. "Alright, Gemini is off doing his own thing, the Mario Bros. are going to go back to Toad Town to repel the enemy forces that come from that orb after they've evacuated the people, and Alex will head to Star Haven to deal with the Subspace Army there. Which leaves Driad and E. Gadd here to help me with my own agenda. When an opportunity arises, I'll give Alex and both Mario and Luigi the signal, and they'll head into Subspace to defeat Tabuu. Remember; don't leave this time until you can say with absolute certainty that the Lord of Subspace is dead. He invaded our planet, and we sure as heck don't want him here again now do we? Do I make myself clear everyone?"

All of the heroes reply with a heavy nod of their heads and a loud utterance of the word "Yes!" "Alright then, let me send you off then." And with that, the Commander flips his chair back around and begins to rapidly tap away at the keyboard, setting up the coordinates for Toad Town first before pressing a button that sends both Mario and Luigi away in the same way that they were brought in. After a little more tapping, Alex too is sent away to Star Haven, leaving the stout Professor and the flower warrior alone with Alpha as he once again turns his chair around and leaps out of it, landing feet first on the second step below him. "So Alpha, how come you want us to stick around? I'd rather be with my master or Mario and Luigi to help them out." Driad asks, to which the Commander is more than happy to answer. "Simple, I'm going to need your long-range attacking capabilities because it just so happens that I have pinpointed one of the orbs appearing right outside my base. As for you Professor..."

Alpha walks up beside him and puts his mouth right beside his head and whispers the following to him. "I'm going to need you to man the defense system. Just go sit on the chair and press the lone button underneath the keyboard once I give you the signal to activate it." E. Gadd leans towards him and whispers his own response to the Goomba. "You mean, you want me to use the weaponry against the Subspace Army? Are you sure you can trust me not to accidentally hit you or Driad in the process?" "Hey, I trusted you in the past to do some repairs to my arms. I have faith in you Elvin." Pulling back a bit, Alpha lightly pats the Professor one on the shoulder before continuing his slow descent down the stairs. "Come now Driad, we don't have any time to waste. I got to brief you on a few more things before we reach the front doors, so try and keep pace with me." As the Commander exits through the sliding metal doors, Driad hastily jumps out of his chair and runs after him, taking a quick glance behind himself to wave to E. Gadd for good luck as the doors close shut. After that, the elderly Professor quietly does his signature laugh, nudges his glasses, and walks up the rest of the staircase and seats himself down onto the comfy leather chair to prepare himself for the upcoming battle.


	2. Gemini's Two Wars

Meanwhile though, on a cliffside near a lone village just east of Toad Town, Gemini can be seen landing his copter down onto the grassy patch of ground that rests at the very peak of the cliff. The two Koopa guards standing right outside the oak arched gateway to the village notice the vehicle's arrival, and after the wind blowing from the rotating blades has died down, the two of them watch as an unfamiliar yellow-shelled member of their kind opens the doorway on the left side of the copter and leaps out, then makes another jump over the side of the cliff to land a few feet away from them. Without showing any signs of leg in fractures despite the height he just came down from, Gemini picks himself up and rushes with a great sense of urgency towards the gateway, where the two guards move closer together to impede his progress.

"Halt! Who are you and wh-" Not wanting to waste any time explaining himself, the Lieutenant quickly draws his silver plated M.S.I. identification badge from out of his shell and holds it right in front of their faces, which causes their faces to freeze with an expression of surprise and overwhelming respect. With their bodies shivering due to what an honor it is for the legendary "Blood Thunder" to come to their humble little village, the two Koopas move off to the side and do a one handed salute as Gemini runs between them. Once inside, he takes a somewhat nostalgic glance at the shell-roofed houses before both the Bob-omb and other Koopa villagers notice his arrival. "Well hello there stranger, what brings you to these parts?" As he turns his head to the right, his feet skid to a stop as he notices the green-shelled villager who greeted him is now waving his hand at him.

As Gemini bends his body forward and begins to pant heavily while trying his hardest to catch his breath before responding to the friendly Koopa. Concerned for the stranger's health, the walking turtle who shalled now be referred to as "Koopeve" walks over to him and places one comforting hand on the Lieutenant's back. "You alright there? You almost look as if you've run a marathon..." "I might...As well have..." Hiding his left arm underneath his right one so the Koopa doesn't catch a glimpse of the scarf wrapped around it, Gemini lifts his head back up and with a light sigh he realizes that he has finally regained his breath. "Alright, I'm good." He says in a pleasant yet respectful tone of voice. "Awesome." Koopeve responds with a gentle thumbs up. Then, he opens his eyelids up and manages to see a glimpse of the Lieutenant's scarf through a crack between his arms. Suddenly, a realization pops into his mind.

"Hey, I recognize you." He says with a sly snap of the fingers, which causes Gemini to under-go a panic attack as he fears what is coming up next. "You're Gemini of the Blood Thunder, right? Wow, what a lucky day this is for me to able to speak to one of the famous veterans of the Third Koopa Clan War. In fact, I'm the leader of this village's fan club, if you'd believe that." Seeing Koopeve's blatantly obvious enthusiasm, the Lieutenant suddenly lapses into a state of shock as he quietly mumbles to himself "I-I have a fan club?" "Fan CLUBS. I'm just the leader of the Koopa Village division, but I can understand how you misconstrued what I said." Taken aback by what this Koopa is saying to him, Gemini slowly yet happily laughs to himself while holding the palm of one hand against his forehead. "That's...I can't believe it..."

But his joy is not to last, as he quickly regains his composure with a shake of his head upon remembering his reason for being here. As he folds his arms in front of his chest, he keeps a professional, serious look on his face as he stares into Koopeve's grinning face. "Kid, I thank you for finding inspiration in my line of work, but I'm gonna have to ask you find your friends and go into hiding somewhere where it is safe. But before you do that, can you help me gather up the adults? I need to address them about something very urgent." With his sudden change into an adult tone of voice, the young Koopa lightly squeels in glee, but just as quickly as he became excited he switches to a confused expression as he wonders just why he needs to hide. "Mr. Gemini, is the village in danger?" He asks in order to get some information on the situation.

"Yes it is. So please, I ask you..." As he answers Koopeve's question, Gemini lightly grabs onto his shoulders and guides him towards turning his body around before letting go and waving the backside of his hand out towards the direction of the houses. "For the sake of your village, hurry!" So with his orders the young Koopa bravely dashes off, and not soon after the Lieutenant follows suit. With their combined efforts they are able to gather all the adult Bob-ombs and Koopa to the center of the village, each of them lined up in rows with Gemini standing a few feet away from the front one, his arms folded behind his back to look dignified as he prepares to speak.

The villagers are whispering to each other, every one of them having their own theories and ideas as to why the Lieutenant has called them out here today. To silence them, the Lieutenant takes his right fist in front of his lips and politely coughs into it to draw their attention towards him. Out of honor for his rank along with the fact that he is a member of their species, the villagers shut their mouths long enough for Gemini to think up what to say as he folds his arm behind his back once more. "Thank you everyone for coming out here today. Now you might be wondering why I've done this, and also as to why your children have gone into hiding. I am here to inform of an incoming threat, something the likes of which the planet has never seen before throughout its existence. You may have heard of the recent phenomena appearing across the many Kingdoms, which a dear friend of mine has properly identified as 'Subspace Orbs'. What you may not know, however, is that the purpose of these mysterious things is not only to drag portions of our world into the Subspace realm, but to also summon members of their army to strike fear into the hearts of our citizens and even worse, kill them."

In response to this, the villagers let out a collective gasp and start murmuring to one another, only to be stopped by Gemini due to the fact that he still has some things to say. "But do not panic, we CANNOT succumb to fear, we CANNOT afford to die here today. Those with weak hearts, I kindly ask you to go back to your homes and make sure that your families are well-hidden so they are not caught up in the cross-fire of our battle. But before you choose to retreat, ask yourself this. How would you rather remember this day? When the future comes and you have grandchildren hurdled around your rocking chair, asking you what you did in the past, would you prefer to tell them that you hid away from the things that scared you? Or would you give them the honor of telling them tales of your glory days, where you fought courageously against the invaders of our planet, to give your family and yourself, A FUTURE WORTH LIVING FOR?"

Each word in the last part of his sentence is yelled out triumphantly and confidentially, his fist being pumped into the air each time in order to better emphasize his desire to motivate the villagers to battle. No one even takes a moment to think things through, and the villagers raise a cheerful uproar as the Koopas follow the Lieutenant's example by pumping their fist into the air while the Bob-ombs jump up and down in excitement. But before the Subspace Orb can appear, the male Koopas take a moment or two to say a few things to their wives before they leave their husbands to go hide in their warm households. After all is said and done, the only people left are twenty male Koopas, 15 black Bob-ombs, and a certain pink Bob-omb with a ponytail fuse and a full butterfly wing shaped turn-key on her back. Well, at the very least that is all the people visible to Gemini's line of sight. In reality, Kaylie and her accompanying Camera Lakitu are hiding behind a tree partially due to the reporter wanting to catch another glimpse at the mysterious Koopa, while the cameraman wants to make sure that someone records footage of the upcoming battle to give to the executives at the news station for a raise and quite possibly a promotion too if he plays his cards right.

"Alright, so everyone is here and ready to fight?" The Lieutenant asks while moving his head from left to right and keeping his arms positioned in the same spot they've been in for the last four minutes. The villagers reply with a nod, followed by the Koopas pounding their right fists against their chests with a proud expression being prominently displayed on their faces. "Excellent. It does my heart to know that you haven't lost the things that make you who you are..." The second part of Gemini's sentence is said only to himself with his head lowered slightly so the villagers can't read his lips. But once he brings his head back up he looks at the pink Bob-omb and waves his fingers towards his body to call her over to him, to which she complies to rather quickly and approaches him slowly as a way of respecting his authority while still retaining her individual personality. "Hey, I recognize you." She says.

"I've been getting that a lot today..." The Lieutenant responds in a snarky tone of voice. "Yeah, you were with Mario during the battle against the Dark King, right? So what do you require of me?" Awaiting his response, Gemini actually takes a couple moments to do so due to how surprised he is about the fact that this Bob-omb actually remembered such a detail from the past. "Yes, my name is Gemini, and just like you I am an acquaintance of Mario. During the upcoming battle, I would like you to be the General of the Bob-ombs due to your prior experiences. Of course, this isn't something you have to do, if you have someone else in mind who would be better qualified, then now would be the time to make a suggestion." Seeing no other viable option though, Bombette nods her head to accept the Lieutenant's offer. "Don't worry sir, I won't let you down." So with all preparations said and done the pink Bob-omb walks back to join the rest of her kin and explain her assigned position to them. One of the black Bob-omb named Bruce gets hearts in his eyes upon hearing her explanation, to which Bombette responds by kicking him in the face.

As Gemini gives a light smile as a reaction to the the two's interaction with one another, he begins to feel a cold chill in his spine as a quiet sucking noise can be heard behind him. As he turns around to see where it's coming from, he sees a Subspace Orb rapidly expanding in size underneath the cliffside, eventually growing large enough that it consumes the Lieutentant's copter with great ease. "Not like I had any intention of running away anyways..." He calmly says while drawing the prongs of his trident from his shell and extending the rod out so he can flip his weapon around and hold it backhanded in the proper location. "Bombette, this is my only order until I fully hands thing over to you. Don't tell the others to march until the heavy hitters start appearing, alright?" "Got it!" The fiery Bob-omb quickly responds while keeping her body steady just in case she needs to get moving.

Once it's reached its full size, the two Koopa guards pull spears out of nowhere to wait for the enemies first move. There is tension building up within all the villagers mind as seconds pass by without any creature showing up to oppose them. The sound of metal clinking along the ground breaks said tension as the guards look down to see two medium-sized black tires split into three sections by some sort of sky blue-ish metal. Thinking of the objects to be nothing more than things blown out of the orb, they fail to notice the wide-open red eye on the middle of the left side as they extend their segments outward and release a burst of ice crystals that instantly freezes the two guards before they have a chance to react. Once that is done, the creatures known as "Glice" retract the segments of their body and then roll around the frozen prisons to approach the other villagers, with another ten of them emerging from the orb behind them to join in on the attack.

"They take a couple seconds to attack! Strike them swiftly!" Thanks to Gemini blurting out the results of his observation as he swings his trident to take down two Glices at once, ten of the Koopas are able to take down the other enemies by curling into their shells and rocketing forward simultaneously to crash into them before they are able to release the ice from their bodies. As the Glices go flying into the air the Koopas ricochet back to their original location and pull themselves out of their shell once they've stopped spinning. While the Lieutenant spins his weapon around behind his back to switch which hand is holding onto it, he also tries to formulate a plan of action to free the two guards from their icy confinement. But after two seconds of doing so he finds himself having to switch his focus back to the battle as the next wave of enemies appear.

This set is somewhat familiar to the electricity-empowered Koopa. Approximately twenty Primids emerge, every five of them having their own unique features to differentiate them from the rest. The first row in the far back consists of Scope Primids with two blue outlines of a teardrop for their eyes, the row after that has Giant Primids with blank faces, the third row has those "Jet Primids" that tried to attack Kaylie at the Beanbean Kingdom orb, but the final row has a new type of Primid with a strange little technicolor crystal attached to the center of their backs while their gloves are insulated with white leather, their eyes consisting of three yellow dots of differing sizes going from small to big then big to small from left to right in the very center of their faces, and their antennas have become some sort of disjointed lightning rod. It is clear as day to Gemini as to just why the Subspace Army brought these "Conductor Primids" to this battle, but this doesn't worry him as he keeps his composure as he gives another set of orders to the villagers while the enemy forces stand in place to get themselves organized before they continue their march of domination.

"Alright everyone! Target the Giant's heads, duck and weave within your shells to confuse the Sword and Scope Primids, and leave the other ones to me." With his command now given, Gemini turns his head to the left and nods his head once to give Bombette the signal due to the fact that the "heavy hitters" he mentioned earlier have now appeared. In response, she turns around towards her group of enthusiastic comrades and gives them a command of her own. "Squad 1, form a line behind the Koopas and be prepared to get tossed at the Giant Primids! Everyone else, form a vertical line in front of the house for now. Go go go!" Roaring out her orders, five select Bob-ombs follow them by walking behind five Koopas who were listening in on her. Once they are behind them, the Koopas turn themselves around and grab the Bob-ombs with their left hands by their posteriors and lift them up behind their shells while waiting for a proper moment to toss them.

On the other side of things though, the remaining Koopas are able to dodge the sword strikes and blaster shots due to following Gemini's advice, which after a minute of spinning back and forth to confuse the Primids wielding the weapons to the point that they are able to redirect their path they spin across to deliver decisive blows to the enemies, defeating them all instantly and causing them to dissolve into "Shadows Bugs" that retreat back into the orb. As one of the Koopas emerges from their shells, they concernedly look towards the massive phenomena and decide to bring a good question to the table. "Sir! Is there anything we can do about those strange bug-like entities?" At that very moment though, Gemini has his hands full dealing with the Conductor Primids, who have him almost completely surrounded. He has tried to cut them with the tip of his trident's prongs, only for them to block the attack one-handed each time. He attempted to hit them with electric streams from the tips, but they are merely absorbed into their body through the rod on their heads, which is then channeled into the gloves and unleashed all at once in the form of a voltic wireframe shot, which the Lieutenant is able to dodge by somersaulting through the gap to the right of him. Taking advantage of the momentary pause in the aftermath of their attack, Gemini lands on his feet and slashes at the back of the Primid in front of him.

However, once the trident reaches the appropriate detection range, the crystal reacts properly and summons forth a shell-shaped holographic shield that blocks the attack and alerts it's owner to the situation. "Damn it!" The Lieutenant curses his luck within his mind, and after grinding his weapon against the shield to try and apply enough pressure to break it he performs a backflip to avoid the Conductor Primid's roundhouse electric punch. Once he lands on the ground he swings his trident upward to cut one of the wireframes that was just fired at him and then proceeds to grabs the rod of his weapon with both hands while holding it horizontally beside his shoulder as the remainder of the Primids turn themselves around to prepare for another attack. "Didn't think I'd have to use this form so soon..." Gemini mumbles to himself in an irritated tone of voice.

So with his prompting, the familiar golden metallic demon wings and horned helmet appear on his body, amplifying his electric manipulating capabilities with the power of darkness as a steady stream of black lightning flows on and off around his body like a type of aura. Unphased by his change of appearance, the Primids coldly raise their hands out in front of their bodies and take the energy they absorbed from the Lieutenant's previous electric attacks to form a compacted orb of that very element that is roughly twice the size of their palms. Before they can thrust them away from themselves though, Gemini cocks the rod of his trident like it's a gun barrel, which summons forth his own smaller black electric compact orbs that are fired out at speeds far too great for the slow Primids to react to. The Lieutenant's orbs blow right through the center of the enemies' orbs and strike right into their chests. Normally this would be enough to kill them, but they are given a little immunity to how much electric energy they have built up inside of them.

It can be said, however, that the Primids have become paralyzed by the attack as their spasming bodies thusly indicate. To finish them off, Gemini pulls his right arm out to the side of his body and rushes a few steps forward before leaping into the air and spinning himself forward to get his weapon positioned correctly as he raises it above his head and upon coming down he slams the prongs into the ground while kneeling his left leg down in order to cushion his landing as black electricity spreads across the ground around him like a spider-web, which manages to successfully hit the Conductor Primids in the one part of their bodies that are still vulnerable to electricity, their feet. The Lieutenant keeps the attack going until the creature's spasming accelerates to the point that they have no choice but to dissolve into "Shadow Bugs" to save their own skins. But to their surprise, the black electricity proves to be more potent than they thought, for once they try to slink along the ground towards the orb to escape, the "Bugs" instantly turn into dust particles upon making contact with the web.

With his set of enemies soundly defeated, and the Giant Primids toppled thanks to some well-done Bob-omb throwing and exploding from the Koopas, the one Koopa that asked Gemini about how to defeat the mysterious bugs currently has his jaw dropped in shock due to how awesome the Lieutenant has proven himself to be. As the half-demon Koopa lifts his head up from its downward tilt, he looks right at the awe-struck Koopa and gives him a smile. "Well, it seems I just came up with a way to deal with them..." And as he pulls his trident out of the ground but before the next wave of enemies can appear, he turns to look at the villagers and sees that the five Bob-ombs that consist of Squad 1 has respawned, only they are now panting from exhaustion. "You guys ok?" He asks with a hint of concern in his voice.

"Yeah...Actually...No...Blowing up takes a lot out of us...But we should be ready to go after a moment or two of rest." Accepting their wise decision with an approving nod, Gemini focuses his attention more on the other villagers as he prepares his next orders. Despite his somewhat frightening appearance, there is something familiar about the way he looks that strikes a chord in the Koopas' memory banks, but regardless of their doubts they knew that now was not the time to start an argument with the one leading them and they quietly keep their arms folded behind their shells as they await the next order. "It seems my black lightning is effective at destroying those bugs. So from here on out we should all try to destroy the members of the Subspace Army that are close to the net I set up behind me." To which the Lieutenant prompts towards with a gesture of his left thumb over his shoulder.

With a unanimous agreement of the plan from the villagers, Gemini turns around and awaits the next wave of enemies. Meanwhile, as Kaylie and her camera holding friend continue to hide behind the same tree from earlier, the reporter finally comes upon a conclusion for her suspicions now that she has taken another look at the "mysterious" Koopas changed appearance. "I knew it! Demonic appearance, powers of electricity, yellow shell, and the red scarf wrapped around the left arm...It IS him!" With her eyes burning with a fury the likes of which the Camera Lakitu has never seen before as he slowly moves to the side to subtly move away from her, Kaylie quickly calms herself down as her eyes become deep with sorrow. "...If you've been alive all this time, then why did you not return before now? Why, oh why?" She thinks to herself as she continues to look on.

It doesn't take long after for the next wave of the Subspace Army to emerge through the orb. This time around there are seven thin black soldiers with unlit bombs for heads (Bombeds), with two floating humanoid creatures floating behind them that are made out of a group of "Shadow Bugs", each having two heads that have barely visible crimson colored eyes, a glowing red orb in the center of their chest, and two giant swords attached to their arms (Shaydas). Standing behind the Bombeds are four Primids with a thick yet shiny metal coat on their bodies. "Are you serious?" Gemini says, taking the fact that the "Shadow Bugs" are conglomerating into their own creature as a sign that the Subspace Army is starting to have second thoughts about invading this area, the Lieutenant places his trident into the ground and lifts his left hand up to tell the other villagers to halt as he raises his right hand up and pointing one finger forward to send out a miniature jolt of black electricity towards the left Shaydas

However, the half-demon Koopa should've known better then to just expect his enemies to not put up a resistance, as the "Shadow Bug" infused creature crosses his sword in an X-Formation in front of its body to block the attack. Surprisingly, the blades are made up of some sort of ancient metal that is impervious to the high temperature of the demonic lightning, and as the Shayday pulls its swords back to cut the jolt in two Gemini rubs the area underneath his nose with the tip of his left pointer finger and mumbles to himself. "Interesting...But will it be enough?" The second part said specifically as an invite to the two Shaydas as he picks up his trident and waits for the enemies to advance towards him. Before that happens though, he gives some orders to the villagers. "Alright guys, I got the two sword wielding enemies. Try to figure out some way to ignite the bomb headed ones from afar so they can explode and take out the metal Primids in the meantime, since physical attacks will be useless against them."

"Understood." One of the older Koopas and Bombette respond at the same time. Once the Shaydas arrive in front of the Lieutenant, the three of them immediately begin their battle, each of them coming to blows with their weapons as the sound of clashing metal fills the skies. As the rest of the enemies begin their march, the brash pink Bob-omb walks forward a couple of steps and declares her intentions to the rest of her kin. "Alright, I'll deal with the bomb enemies. You guys all stand back so you don't get caught in the crossfire." With the rest of the Bob-ombs agreement, Bombette marches forward one step at a time while taking careful consideration to avoid walking into the electric web that Gemini is currently trying to back up towards in order to take care of the Shaydas' with minimal effort. Once she passes it though, she lights her fuse with willpower and approaches the Bombeds. As she tightly closes her eyes and leans forward ready to explode, something happens that will completely ruin the villagers and Gemini's plans.

From the orb flies out seven dark-violet birds with rainbow patterned wings and tail and a long almost lance-like beak protruding from their face (Shade Auroros). The birds swoop down and grab onto the heads of the Bombeds with their stubby little feet and as they rise back into the air the heads become detatched from the rest of the body as the fuses on top are lit. Bombette soon after explodes and takes out the bodies, but by that point the Auroros have flown out of range of the attack. However, the Metal Primids end up perishing due to being in range of the attack. But that matters little seeing as they simply turn back into "Shadow Bugs" and vanish back into the orb. Gemini raises his head into the air as the birds pass overhead, and the shrinking of his pupils tells enough about how he feels about this new development.

"Everyone, get out of the way!" He says while looking over his shoulder to see that the villagers are frozen in fear. It is thanks to his words though that they snap out of it and take action to defend themselves as the Auroros let go of the bombs right above them. Five Koopas grab onto the exhausted Bob-ombs and leap out of the way as the explosions go off around them once the heads impact with the ground. However, six Koopas turn out to not be fast enough, and as their damaged bodies are flung into the roof of a nearby green shelled house Gemini's defense wavers out of concern for his comrades. This proves to be a great enough distraction for him, as one of the Shaydas manages to cut through his helmet and scar him across the right cheek with just enough force that he is knocked to the ground stomach first.

Of course, with him only suffering minimal damage, he quickly gets back up, and out of anger for the Subspace Army harming the innocent villagers he decides that he can no longer show any mercy and after pulling in the energy from the electric web he set up into the palm of his left hand, he stands back up and quickly turns his body around ready to discharge the built up energy all at once with a fury burning deep in his eyes. However, the very moment that he fires the beam out at the Shaydas, a large tank with dark swamp-green treads and two disk shaped eyes peering through a thin black window on the left side (Armank) speeds out of the orb and gets between the fighters, summoning forth a crystal-like shield similar to the ones used by the Conductor Primids in order to reflect the attack into the sky. With his attack failing and his eyes widening back up in surprise as yet another unexpected foe has appeared before him, Gemini finds himself unable to do anything as the tank turns towards him and retracts it's domed hatch to summon forth two medium-sized arms that are similar to those you'd find on a construction crane. The rounded segments connecting the head of the arms to the body release a light release a blood red glow as they both thrust out and clamp down onto the Lieutenant's arms, which forces him to drop his trident onto the ground and leaving him defenseless.

Or so the Armank thinks. As the tank raises the half-demon Koopa into the air, he gives the creature a sly smile as black electricity can be seen surging around his tightly clenched fists. "Big mistake..." He says. But as he unloads the built up energy into the arms of the Armank, he is surprised to find that it does not even flinch or show signs of melting. Then he takes another look at the heads of the arms, and finds that his electricity is being absorbed through them. Not wanting to risk it all being unleashed back at him with double the power or even worse powering up the tank itself, Gemini stops his attack all at once and tries to come up with a plan. But as seconds pass and the Shaydas loom ever closer to him, ready to assassinate him with one clean strike, he realizes that without the ability to use both his electricity and his trident, there is absolutely nothing he can do to save himself. Even worse, as he looks around and sees that not a single Bob-omb and Koopa can be found, he fears the worst and comes to an unfounded conclusion that his rash actions have led to the deaths of the innocent villagers.

With tons of regrets welling up inside of him, the Lieutenant closes his eyelids and begins to apologize to the people he has failed throughout his rather short life as he waits for the Shaydas to put him out of his misery. "I shouldn't have been so reckless...I failed the people...I disobeyed the orders of the man who gave me another chance at life...And worst of all, I never truly got to return home and apologize to Kaylie and him for being gone for so long...Everyone, forgive me, and may my death serve as the catalyst that motivates the others to end this threat..." As one teardrop peers through his left eyelid, he fails to notice a certain pink Bob-omb flying through the air in arc towards the side of the Armank. When she makes contact with the metallic siding, she detonates in an explosion loud enough to cause the Lieutenant to thrust his eyelids open while also blowing a hole large enough to reveal the delicate green blob-like creature controlling it from within.

Looking up into the sky, Gemini watches as Bombette falls down and lands in front of the houses with a serious look on her face as she lets out a piercing whistle that causes the Koopas hiding behind the houses to launch their shell tucked bodies off the roofs to strike the flying Shadow Auroros and defeat them instantly due to how weak their defense is. Then, out of nowhere a blue streak on fire moves speeds through the air and cuts right through the creature inside the Armank before rebounding right out of the tank as it disintegrates into "Shadow Bugs", which also causes Gemini to be released from the grip of the creature's arms just before the Shaydas can cut him down. Once he lands, he quickly picks up his trident and infuses the tips with black electricity to attack the two beasts with an arc slash above his head, blowing them up without an visible effort from the Lieutenant.

Afterwards he bends down on knee and uses his weapon to prop himself up as he takes a moment to catch his breath after expending so much energy in the last couple of minutes alone. But when he raises his head back up and his vision starts to become less blurry, he sees standing in front of him someone he never thought he'd get to see again. He is a Koopa with a blue-shell on their back and a red scarf wrapped around their neck made out of the same material as the one on Gemini's left arm, and a bandage on top of his nose behind the nostrils. With his hands held firm beside his body, he glances over his left shoulder with a grin on his face. "You know, if you were going to come back here, you could've at least sent a letter or given me a call." He says in a such a lighthearted tone as if he were speaking with an old friend, which as it turns out, is exactly the case, given Gemini's next sentence.

"Kooper? ...You were able to tell?" Referring to the blue Koopa by his recognizable first name, Gemini hangs his head in guilt as he tries to come up with the proper words to explain himself to his friend. "With the red scarf still on your arm, it wasn't that hard to figure out. Besides, I don't think I'm the only one who has put two and two together." With a gesture of Kooper's head, the Lieutenant looks behind himself and sees Kaylie peering out from behind the nearby tree as she is currently breathing a sigh a relief. But upon noticing that he is looking at her, she shyly retreats from view. "Oh..." Is all that Gemini can bring himself to say. "Don't worry about the details at the moment. What matters is that you don't look like a monstrosity anymore, and that you are still alive." As both friends turn their heads to look back at the orb, they see some more enemies emerging from it.

The first ones to come are four large creatures that resemble brown stag beetles with aquamarine colored legs (Shellpod). Behind them are about twenty more Shadow Auroros, and underneath them are five light-blue creatures roughly half the size of the Koopas with fists covered by smooth, steel gauntlets (Neo Nagagog). In the face of the new threats, Gemini stands back up as Kooper slams his fist into the palm of his right hand. "So how did you know to come here? Last I heard you were traveling the world with Kolorado to look for new temples or something like that..." With Gemini's question comes a quick response from his friend. "I was, but while we were staying at the Grass Land Inn we overheard on TV about how some places around the world were currently dealing with some strange phenomena. Sensing that I was concerned for my village, especially after seeing Kaylie's news report in the Beanbean Kingdom, Kolorado let me return here to protect everyone until things died down. So I rushed over here and helped the villagers get out of sight from those birds while helping Bombette prepare a counterattack to save you from the grasp of that tank. You know the story from there, obviously."

"Heh...Well, thanks for the help then." The Lietenant turns his head over to the pink Bob-omb and nods his head to thank her, to which she responds with an innocent wink to return the thanks as well. "It's what friends do." Kooper responds, trying hard not to laugh at how cheesy and cliche that line was. While he manages to restrain himself, Gemini on the other hand giggles quietly. "Nice to see you still got a sense of humor. Hey, when everything is all said and done, how about we catch up on things that have happened to us over the last six years? But for now..." Kooper and Gemini get into fight poses as they stare down the approaching Subspace Army. "Why don't we show these invaders just how much of a threat we are when we combine forces?" "You got it Kooper!" The Lieutenant says to respond to both questions.

Both friends charge forward, Kooper slowing himself down until the half-demon Koopa is right by his side, at which point the two of them run at equal speeds as the Shadow Auroros turn upside-down and skydive at them from above. Moving from side to the side to avoid them as they pierce into the ground, Kooper gets the grand idea of plucking one of the bird's bodies up and tosses it like an arrow to pierce through three of their kind and causing them to become "Shadow Bugs". The rest of the fallen Auroros are dealt with by the villagers slamming into them while tucked into their shells. Next up, Gemini rushes at the far left Shellopod and attempts to pierce the shell with the prongs of his trident. However, his weapon and arms tremble upon making contact thanks to the thickness of the shell. But that isn't enough to dissuade his attack, as he jumps back and flips his weapon around before jamming the bottom of the rod underneath the upper left foot of the beast. Applying all of his strength into flipping the creature over, only to find that its girth makes this task require more effort than he thought would be necessary.

But thanks to the fact that the Shellopod can't charge forward without all of it's legs being usable, Gemini is eventually able to get the job done, leaving the creature on it's back with it's vulnerable underside now exposed. Wanting to take advantage of this situation as quickly as possible, the Lieutenant leaps into the air and flings his trident straight through the beast's gut, taking it out and causing it to suffer the same fate as it's brethren. Meanwhile, Kooper is having a somewhat hard time dealing with the Shellopod on the right side of the row, seeing as he lacks the physical strength needed to do what his friend just did. His jump kicks and shell slams aren't capable of breaking through the shell either, but with his sharps wits the Koopa comes up with an idea once he sees the creature rearing itself back to use its horn against him.

Tucking himself into his shell, Kooper scoots himself forward a couple of inches so he is on the tip of the horn as the Shellopod thrusts its entire body forward, propelling the protected Koopa into the air in the process. With his plan now put into motion, he begins to spin himself around rapidly to cause enough friction as he descends to set the area around his shell on fire. With the force of a tiny meteor he slams into the shell of the Shellopod and breaks right through it, his impact with the ground creating a tiny flaming explosion that burns the rest of the body to ashes, which unfortunately turns into "Shadow Bugs", but those along with the ones from the Shellopod he slayed are dealt with by a stream of black lightning from the tip of Gemini's fingers.

"Nice improvising." The Lieutentant says, both friends exchanging a thumbs up while ignoring the two other Shellopods, which promptly explode. No, not from the sheer awesomeness of the two of them working together, but because a couple of the villagers tossed Bob-ombs at them to cause their defeat. With the defensive enemies defeated and the villagers now down to eight Bob-ombs not including Bombette, Kooper and Gemini turn their attention towards the Neo Nagagogs, who were laying in wait until their comrades had fallen. But as they walk forward it turns out their speed is sub-par at best, and after moving one foot in the span of five seconds they trip and fall flat on their rounded bellies, but their impact with the ground causes a light quake to rumble through the area. While this isn't enough to cause the two Koopas to stumble, they realize then and there that they shouldn't judge these creatures by appearance alone.

"Let us be quick." Gemini notes, to which his friend agrees as he tucks into his shell and slides across the ground to hit the Nagagog from underneath. He almost touches the orb, but does a quick U-turn to hit the one to the right of the one he just hit. Gemini goes for a simpler approach and cuts both creatures across the chest with one broad stroke of his trident. But instead of dying, the Nagagogs shake the attacks off as if they were mere distractions and begin to rub their chests with their fingers while letting out the following sound "Erga Erga!" Then as shockwaves surround their bodies they suddenly double in size, their colors changing from blue to a sunny yellow. The first thing these creatures do with their newfound body mass is move forward at a much faster pace. Then, two of them each grab the Koopas into the grasp of their arms and leap into the air before turning themselves upside-down and performing a spinning piledriver that creates two craters in the ground upon impact.

But because of Gemini's and Kooper's natural level of endurance, they are able to survive the attack and then get back on their feet once the Nagagogs let go of them, which allows them to take advantage of the momentary pause between the attack and their next movements to trip them up with a sweeping kick to the legs. Once the two creatures fall on their backs and cause the ground to tremble, the two friends jump out of the craters with Kooper kicking the right Nagagog in the face while Gemini jams the bottom part of his trident into the chest insignia and unleashing a burst of black electricity to try and cause some permanent scarring to the creature. Like the previous attempts, their attacks fail to cause any damage, and like before the Nagagogs rub their chests and grow even bigger than they are now, with their coloring now dark red with their bodies surrounded by a fierce black aura and their eyes glowing yellow. The two Nagagogs that were knocked down in the craters rise up and walk out with two large steps behind the Koopas.

Now having the two friends surrounded, the creatures raise their hands out in front of their body as their aura fades slightly. Sensing a steep increase in their power levels, Gemini leaps into the air above them and flies out of the way with his wings, and Kooper uses his shell to slip between their legs and follow suit. The Nagagogs simultaneously unleash a net of gamma energy that combines together and swirls around like a maelstrom until it collapses upon itself and creates a cross shaped explosion in the center of the enemies. Thankful that they managed to avoid the attack, Gemini and Kooper decide that they should come up with an attack that will be strong enough to take all four Nagagogs out. But figuring that by themselves they won't be able to pull it off, Kooper looks up at his half-demon friend and smiles, to which the Lieutenant responds with one of his own.

First, Gemini flies back a bit so he is no longer flying directly above his friend. Then, he begins to spin his trident around in front of his body by alternating which hand holds onto the rod at the time while Kooper turns himself and propels himself into the air towards the Lieutenant, followed by tucking into his shell and slowly spinning himself around. After a short flight he collides with the center of his half-demon friend's spinning trident and begins to grind against it, friction eventually kicking in and setting his shell on fire as he keeps moving at a steady pace to avoid accidentally breaking through Gemini's guard. When he feels he is ready for the next phase of the attack, the Lieutenant raises his trident up into the air quickly with Kooper still spinning against it to draw black electricity out around him to infuse into his friend's shell, eventually leading up to him swinging his trident out beside the left side of his body with enough force that Kooper is sent flying towards the Nagagogs, who have their hands in the air ready to counter with another gamma burst.

However, Kooper passes them overhead and slams into the center of where they have gathered, causing an impact so powerful that the combined force of both elements are released all at once in the form of four dark red flaming pillars surrounded by sparks of black electricity that completely encompasses the Nagagogs and sears their skin until it reaches the "Shadow Bugs" underneath and destroys them, at which point the fires die down, leaving Kooper to get up and out of his shell to wipe a sweatdrop off of his forehead for a job well done. When he turns around and sees Gemini landing on the ground while keeping one thumb up on his right hand, he can say for certain that this victory of theirs was well-earned. Thus, when the blue-shelled Koopa runs over to his friend, the rest of the villagers raise a triumphant uproar to celebrate the fact that they will indeed live to see another day.

But before the two friends can shake hands to congratulate the other, one of the villagers stops jumping for joy and looks towards the orb and sees some more enemies emerging from within. "Behind you!" He blurts out, causing Gemini to go on high-alert as both he and Kooper turn around to see just who else would dare oppose them at this point. To their surprise though, instead of summoning tougher enemies, thirty Primids emerge from the orb. But they don't attack, they only line up in two rows of fifteen on the left and right sides of the Subspace Orb. They cross their arms in front of their chests and begin to chant in some sort of baratone alien language. This is merely an ominous prelude to the biggest threat that the Koopas and Bob-ombs have had to endure so far.

From the orb emerges a titanic creature roughly seven times the size of the Koopas. With an armored body complete with broad, spinning cubes for shoulders and a massive jagged red X reaching from one side of the chest to the other, it's muscular legs are protected by black grieves embroidered with gold around the sole and heel, while its average sized arms have gauntlets with a bloodied white cloth attached to the back of them that connects to the shoulders. The face of this creature is the same as that from the Death Greap which Gemini had encountered earlier that day, only now with even longer, sharped spikes protruding from the helmet, and a necklace made out of bones containing some flesh on them wrapped around its neck area. In the grip of both of its hands is a clear glass rod containing the viscera of its victims, and on the top of it is a long, blood strained, dark grey scythe blade. It is clear as day that this nightmarish monstrosity is the ring-leader of the Subspace Army assigned to evade this area, and the name of this terrifying creature?

**Defiance Executor: Greap Juggernaut**

With its presence made clear, the Juggernaut looks down upon Gemini, and angrily squints it's eyelids, which signifies to the Lieutenant that this is, in fact, a reborn, upgraded version of the Death Greap he fought earlier. With knowledge of this, the Lieutenant is quick to aim his trident at the beast's head while yelling at Kooper to get out of the way as he fires off an electric beam from the prongs of his weapon. The Juggernaut swings his scythe out with one 180 degree slash, using the blade of his weapon to absorb the energy from the beam and changing its color to black with sparks surging around it. Without hesitation, the creature points the top of his weapon at the villagers and fires a beam of his own at them. With not enough time given to react, the Lieutenant can do nothing but watch as the beam makes contact with the ground in front of the poor innocent Koopas and Bob-ombs, causing a massive voltic explosion that sends them all flying away with their bodies becoming completely incapacitated as they smash into their houses and trees, while others get knocked into the forest, making it impossible to tell if they survived or not.

With that single redirected attack, the Juggernaut has managed to lower the amount of people capable to attacking him down to three. Bombette, Kooper, and Gemini gather around each other and with anger welling up within all of them after their comrades have been taken down. The Lieutenant is particularly pissed off because it was technically by his hand that this situation was allowed to happen in the first place. Looking on at what it thinks to be "pitiful mortals", the Juggernaut displays a surprising sign of sentience by rearing its head back and letting out a deep, echoing laugh. "Your continued resistance is futile. It has already been decided by Lord Tabbu's will that this world shall be subjugated." To respond to that, Bombette allows Kooper to pick her up and hold her back with one hand as she prepares her biggest explosion yet with a lighting of her fuse. Before being tossed though, the two of them offer a rebuttal to the Juggernaut's statement. "Subjugate this!"

Thinking that the red X marks his weak point, the blue-shelled Koopa tosses his companion at that spot. Upon impacting with the center of the area, Bombette goes off; creating an explosion that engulfs an area roughly half the size of the Juggernaut's body. When Bombette lands on the ground behind Gemini, that attack of hers is her final one as her exhaustion clearly shows. "That was for the others...The rest is up to you two..." And with that she closes her eyelids and lays her body against the ground to rest. But as the smoke from the explosion fades away, the Juggernaut can be seen relatively unscathed, with only a slight crack being visible on its chest. Wasting no time in launching a counterattack, the titan brings his scythe over his head and slams it down to try and cleave the two Koopas in two. With their quick reflexes they jump out of the way, though Kooper makes a detour to get Bombette out of the way.

However, his selflessness proves to be his undoing, for once he grabs ahold of his friend he is sent flying into the front of the tree that Kaylie and Camera Lakitu are still hiding behind due to the scythe's impact with the ground sending rocky chunks up into the air that does the aforementioned action to the blue-shelled Koopa. But at the very least, as Kooper lays flat against the ground he unconsciously unfolds his arms to let go of Bombette, who has not been harmed in any way, shape or form. After Gemini skids along the ground after emerging from his somersault, he takes a moment to look around and see the many causalities of the battle so far. His eyes are horrified by the fact that pretty much every conscious fighter has been taken out, including his best friend Kooper. The Juggernaut finally notices the other two survivors that were hiding all this time, and as he turns his head towards the Lieutenant he extends his scythe out at arm's length to show to him just who he plans on attacking next.

"Do you see now? All is done under the will of my Lord. The summoning of these orbs, the soon to be subjugation of all worlds..." The Juggernaut pulls his scythe behind his shoulders and gets ready to take a mighty swing to take down both Kaylie and her Lakitu friend, to which they don't even make an effort to try and run due to being frozen by fear. Gemini gets a scowl on his face due to how disgusted and angered he feels about the thoughtlessness of this sentient titan. At this point, he has decided that enough is enough, and that there is only one option left at this point for him to take. "ENOUGH!" With an outcry strong enough to the rip the heavens asunder, a scorching white thunderbolt comes down from the sky and smites the Lieutenant, the energies contained within that single electric phenomena being infused within him to cause his appearance to change once again.

The helmet on his head melts away, as both of his eyes change to a pale-silvery coloring. The wings are transformed to give them a more silver angelic appearance, and a thick, curved sword has been melded to his right arm. The lightning bolt then being replaced by a pillar of light as astral projections of the Seven Star Spirits float around him, Gemini floats off the ground and with one swing of the arm he cuts the pillar in two, spreading a shockwave of light through the area that not only removes the paralysis from the other villagers, but also heals the wounds of his dear friend Kooper and temporarily stuns the Juggernaut mid-swing. In one second he manages to fly in between the scythe and its desired target, and blocks it effortlessly with a single raise of the hand. Incapable of showing emotions, there is no hint of surprise in the Juggernaut's eyes despite the Lieutenant's drastic change. "So you think yourself to be an angel?" He cockily remarks.

Closing his eyelids, Gemini applies a little more force to his defense, changing it into a counterattack that allows his sword arm to cut right through the blade of the scythe as if it were butter. "No." He calmly says. With most of the weight from his weapon gone, the Juggernaut ends up accidentally letting go of his weapon and tossing it into the nearby lake. Before he can react any further, he finds that he has already been cut up all over the place, his scars glowing brightly with holy light as it is revealed that the angelic Koopa has kneeled his body over behind him with his sword arm extended towards the sky and his wings spread out as far as possible. As the Juggernaut topples over, Gemini only has one thing to add to his previous one-word sentence. "But I am your demise..." And with the final words ringing in the ears of the horrified titan, his entire being disintegrates, with not a single "Shadow Bug" in sight afterwards.

Having covered her eyes with the palms of her hands due to not wanting to witness the last moments of her life, when that end never comes to pass Kaylie moves her hands away from her face slowly, and the first thing she sees is that familiar Koopa standing confidentially and triumphantly before her with his wings flapping at a steady pace. With all that has happened so far the sight of this finally pushes her over the edge. Having vanished from her life for so long, the fact cannot be avoided that this one Koopa has not only returned after such a period of time alive and well, but has literally taken on the form of her guardian angel to protect her from the greatest moment of despair she has experienced so far in her life forces her to get on her knees and start bawling her eyes out, her face becoming ridden with tears in a matter of seconds.

"It is you...It is you...It really, really is you...I waited for so long...But you never returned...And now you've come back...As my savior from above...I...I...I can finally say what I wanted to say for so long...I can finally say that..." But before she can finish, she sees Gemini raising his hand into the air, indicating her to stop. "Please Kaylie, hold off of on that. Things aren't over yet...And if I were to fail you, like I did once before, then all your admitting of your feelings will do is end up becoming another stone that I'll be forced to carry on my back." With his peace now spoken to her, the Lieutenant takes one step closer to the now silent Primids. As he does this, the creatures do something they have never done before. They show visible signs of fear, which coming from these emotionless soldiers of war, is saying volumes about how frightening they find this one Koopa to be. With his left hand grabbing onto the dull side of his sword, Gemini stands firmly in the face of the Subspace Army, ready to calmly give them all a piece of his mind.

"I've been in this world long enough to see many atrocities committed. With murderers, arsonists and thieves doing whatever they damn well please to people who just want to live peacefully, and many struggles being put into motion by power-hungry fools that result in the deaths of even more innocent citizens. But they all have one thing in common, that being their emotions. Even if they foolishlessly chose to cross over to the side of evil, or they were just plain diabolic to begin with, I've always believed that save for those truly complete monsters out there, there is a glimmer of hope that the actions performed by those evil beings will cause them to feel guilty and thus lead them on the path to atonement. You creatures, on the other hand, have no emotions. You don't give a damn if you kill or harm the innocent, because it's not in your capacity to do so. The concept of karma is foreign to you, so you will continue to destroy under the will of a megalomaniacal master and never once think that what you are doing is wrong. You puppets are the lowest type of scum to exist in this grand universe of ours...And despite this you still think you have any right to invade this world of ours and claim it as your own? Fine, if you want to think that way, then I know for a fact that nothing will sway you from the choices you make, only your so-called 'Lord' can call off the attack. So let me give you a message if you are listening at this moment Tabuu. Send every soldier you got here, bring them out by the hundreds, their sizes gargantuan in comparison to my own. You will never make me budge from the place where I was born, you will not touch the skin on any of my friend's bodies, you will NOT harm the children that will pave the way for the future of these lands, and you will certainly not succeed in your conquest so long as I stay even an inch away from the jaws of death! Today, I am not fighting for what's right under the name I chose to take in order to hide myself from the world, I will not refer to myself by the rank given to me by the man who gave me another chance at life, and most importantly I shall not hide from the foolish decisions I have made in the past. For in this body lays a lost soul that has chosen to return to the realm of the living, whose birthright has and always shall be to protect his homeland at all costs. In this land where harmony between Koopas can be found in the past, present and future, I, Koopis F. Seark, shall fight to the bitter end! Now come!" Having discarded their fears under the will of their master, the Primids charge at the angelic Koopa, as he pulls his sword behind his shell ready to fight back...


	3. Alpha's Lockdown

Back with Alpha and Driad, we find them standing outside the iron barred doorways of the M.S.I. Base, which lies hidden within the inside of a mountain range that is the only visible thing for miles in this rocky, barren wasteland. The only sound heard is that of the breeze passing by towards the east overhead, some of which dips down and causes the petal surrounding Driad's head to wave back and forth until it leaves. With nothing happening to break the mood, the flower warrior decides that now is as good a time as any to ask the Commander a few questions. "Might be prying a little too deep into this, but would it be possible for you to tell me just why Gemini stormed off like he did? From the sounds of things, it seems as though you understood the meaning behind his 'Gemini isn't here right now' comment." He asks while rubbing the back of his head and gazing to the upper left because he is a bit nervous about communicating with Alpha like this. "There's nothing wrong with asking questions Driad, and I can assure you that if I had any right to give you an answer that I would. But that is something that you would be better off asking him, not me. Now, I'm not saying that I don't have an answer, I do, THAT I'm allowed to say. But if I were to be the one to tell you then I would be violating the bond of trust that him and I have managed to establish over the years that he has worked for me."

Surprised by how politely the Commander responded to him after expecting him to gruffly state that it was "None of his business", Driad decides that it would be really dumb of him to press that question any further and switches to another one after giving Alpha a brief apology for even bringing it up in the first place. "Now, since you requested that I stick around with you instead of helping the others, I think I have the right to know just why that is besides the fact that you need my 'long-range capabilities'" "Why? Well, off the top of my head I can think of three reasons. One, your wolf and samurai forms allow you to perform quick, precision cutting attacks that are perfect for grinding through swarms of fodder without exerting too much effort. Two, with your control over nature you got access to a versatile selection of techniques and abilities that can helpful for dealing with the stronger enemies should it turn out that my own tech can't do anything to them. And third of all, out of everyone from our heroic little group, you and Mallow are the only ones I haven't gotten a chance to get to know more about, and as a friend, I feel as if failing to do anything about that will leave a permanently negative view of me in your mind." As he reaches the end of his sentence, the Commander begins to slow down the pacing of his speech as if he were embarrassed about revealing his emotions to his flowery friend.

With a thin blush in his cheeks, Driad turns to look at Alpha and reaches one of his viney limbs out to offer him a handshake. "Well all you needed to do was come to Mario's House, you know. But after things are said and done with the Subspace Army I'll be more than happy to have an extended conversation with you about our lives, if that would be fine with you." Grinning from ear to ear, the Commander shakes his head back and forth with his eyelids closed before turning his body around, opening them back up, and extending his left arm out to join their hands together so they can perform a nice firm shake. "It's a deal Driad." With their promise now sealed by their actions, the two warriors let go of each other's hands and turn to look back onto the horizon. Surprised by the lack of any Subspace Orbs at the moment, Alpha decides to go over his plan with the flower warrior. Of course, with him being curious about that before it's even mentioned, Driad manages to start off the topic of conversation prematurely with his own words. "So what exactly are we going to do about the invaders?" He asks.

"Well if you don't mind me being a bit long-winded, I can cover all the details of my plan before they show up." "Not a problem, go right ahead." With Driad's permission, Alpha starts in with his arms folded behind his back. "The way I figure it, Tabuu is going to be sending most of his forces through the orbs to the areas that pose the biggest threats to him. The three in particular that he will send them out from will be ones in Toad Town, here, and as mentioned earlier Star Haven. However, I can thin the forces that show up in the other two areas thanks to a signal I installed into the satellite dish on the roof of our base that will send out a soundwave that simulates the wavelength of the Subspace Orb's composition, which I was thankfully able to create due to the data Gemini gathered from the one at the Beanbean Kingdom. The soundwave will pass through to the Subspace realm and lure any stray enemies towards us, which we will deal with using the combined force of our crowd clearing attacks and E. Gadd operating the weapons system of the base. The purpose in doing this is to eventually cause enough damage to the Subspace Army's forces that they will be forced to send in the big guns, A.K.A. one of the Frontline Generals that Mario mentioned in his stories. If we can accomplish that, then you and I will work together to damage them to the point that I will be able to leap onto them and override the commands being given to them by the 'Shadow Bugs' that they are composed of by jamming a miniature version of the soundwave projector into them so I can scramble their frequency and gain control over them. After that, I will ride them into the Susbspace Orb and travel through the realm to find the area leading out into Star Road. Once there, I'll relieve Alex of his duty there, thus allowing him to head into the realm to take out Tabuu, and unless the lord of Subspace has created more of those Frontline Generals then the other one that doesn't appear here will probably show up at Star Haven or Toad Town, and I have faith that the Mario Bros. or Alex can take care of him. So to paraphrase my own words here...The plan here today is to lure in the Subspace Army, defeat enough of them to get one of the Frontline Men out, damage it enough so that I can wrench control of it for myself, travel to Star Haven through the Subspace Realm, and baton passing the duty of protecting the area from Alex so he can go deal with Tabuu. If I have enough time though during travel, I'll make a detour over to Toad Town's orb and check up on the Mario Bros.. And of course, I'm trusting you to stick around here after I've left to finish off and remnants of the Subspace Army, Driad. Things have to work out exactly as I've planned, but I cannot guarantee you that the time it takes to end this war will be either short of long, and if I must be honest were it not for Gemini leaving I wouldn't currently be stricken with a feeling of unease about whether or not he will be able to handle things on his own...Heh, who am I kidding, I have enough faith in him. Oh, and before you point things out, I will say now that I already ordered some of the men in my base to spread out to the locations where the other orbs are going to appear at before you guys came here, on the off chance that any members of the Subspace Army emerge through them, obviously. And don't worry about the other parts of my plan besides the ones that you are involved in my friend, otherwise you'll get stressed out and thus the blade of your samurai sword will become dull and incapable of cutting even the thinnest of leaves...Whew, it has been a while since I've had to talk for that long, but I pray that my explanation was at the very least coherent..." After he is all said and done, the Commander takes a deep breath in and lets out a sigh of relief due to how much work that was on his lungs.

"Yeah, I understood all of that. But I have to ask, are you certain your plan will work even though the others don't know about it?" Alpha is almost taken aback by Driad's quick response, but with a quick regaining of his composure he is able to provide a logical reply. "That's easy. The reason I have so much faith in my plan working out is because I formulated the details of it due to the knowledge I have gained about each clueless participant's personalities. I know that they will react in accordance with my orders, so save for one person I know that they will go along with things until the time comes." "One person? Who might that be?" Driad asks with the palm of his vine hand rubbing the bottom of his pollen covered chin. "That would be Mario. He didn't exactly get a good first impression of me during our previous travels, if I have to admit..." "And why is that?" The flower warrior persists. "That..." The Commander stares back at him from the corner of his eye with a smile on his face as he taps the side of his head with his right arm. "Is only for me to know." Giving up on the issue, Driad shrugs his shoulders. "Fair enough." The two of them then go back to looking out towards the horizon, only to finally see the phenomena they've been waiting for happening before their very eyes.

Growing ever bigger in the distance is another Subspace Orb, which like every other one before it consumes everything in its path, though this time around the only thing worth taking is the dirt resting on the flat landscape. Soon enough it is roughly twice the height of the base itself, but not even one-twentieth as wide in diameter. "Alright, you've been listening so far Professor? Cause now it's time to go, so once you press the first button, tap the green one to the far left." Alpha says into his held up left arm. Back inside the Command Sphere, the elderly Professor overhears the Commander's voice calling to him from a speaker attached to the bottom of his chair, and with an attentive nod he kneels forward and slinks his hand down to below the keyboard, pressing the button underneath it. Automatically a blaring siren goes off throughout the base, though the sound is dull inside the Command Sphere itself. However, the room does end up covered in a dark red light as the computer screen shut off and the entire room becomes surrounded by reinforced steel panels. The keyboard sinks into the ground as a new one pops out to take it's place, with a new set of buttons revealing the arsenal the base has to offer, including "Machine Guns", "Splicers", and a "Holy Hand Grenade" the last of which causes E. Gadd to raise an eyebrow just from how out of place it is among the rest of the weaponry. But that's not important to him at the moment, as he moves his left over to the proper side of the board and presses down onto the green button as per the Commander's request. At that moment, the room trembles slightly as it begins to rise up out of a hole in the base's ceiling. From the outside, Alpha and Driad turn around and see the covered sphere rising out with an adamantium pole connecting it to the floor of the base itself. After it has reached the peak, it clinks into place, and a smaller metal poll rises out of the top, followed by a round dish being summoned via teleportation. Then, when all the preparations are complete, an invisible series of soundwaves is projected from the adjusted satellite dish towards the Subspace Orb.

In time the waves pass into the orb without disrupting it's structure. There are about eleven seconds of tense silence as the three defenders wait for the first enemies to emerge. And that they do. At first glance the emergence of five normal Primids from the orb is a suspicious sight. But then there are ten, then one hundred, and finally exactly one thousand of them have appeared all at once from the otherworldly phenomena. Aroused by the signal sent to their realm, the members of the Subspace Army begin to run towards the base to conquer it. Unphased by their movements, Alpha grabs onto the underside of his left elbow and stretches both of his arms outward to crack his knuckles before swinging his arms out to the side of his body as a pillar of light slams down onto him from above. Once it fades he has a pair of wide angel wings outspread on his back with his body now golden in color, with his eyepatch and trenchcoat both white and his arms black, as faded projections of Star Spirits hover above him. Driad gets on his arms and knees and lifts his head up to let out a howl as his body undergoes a brief transformation. When it is done, he has become a creature made out of grass and moss with jagged claws made out of solid oak wood, powerful looking back legs and piercing yellow eyes. Letting out a fiercer howl to signifying his full change into this more savage form, both warriors exchange a glance at each other before looking out at the incoming Subspace Army. The flower warrior lifts the front of his body up, since he can use his strong back legs to keep himself steady, while Alpha grinds his right foot behind himself to get ready to take off. After two seconds that feel like an eternity, both of them kick their feet off the ground and run towards the Primids, ready to take them on at full force.

Being the faster of the two at the moment, the Commander performs the first attack by converting his left arm into a cannon barrel and holding it out in front of him while charging ionic energy within it, which glows red and reflects off the metallic surface inside before it's fired out in the form of a beam. The attack burns through fourteen Primids before it dies down, but being the planner that he is Alpha managed to make it so a motion-sensor bomb was put in with the beam before it was fired, so now with it stuck to the ground it only takes a second for the enemy to step on it, causing a three-yard wide explosion that knocks twenty-four Primids high into the air. Eyeing the highest rising one with the cybernetic eye hidden behind his eyepatch, Alpha shrinks the cannon barrel down to the size of a fingertip and points it up at the Primid that is locked onto the reticule in his vision. Summoning a needle shaped laser that pokes halfway out of the barrel with ease, the Commander keeps his concentration intact as he fires it out at his target.

After it speeds through the air the needle impales itself through the chest of the Primid, followed up by the golden Goomba leaping into the air and connecting the end of the needle sticking out through the back of the enemy to the barrel on his left arm. Then, as the other members of the Army end up positioned as a ring in the air, Alpha cuts the Primid he has attached to his new laser sword right through the head before holding it out in front of his body and adding more energy to the blade in order to extend its length to the point that it impales the enemy in front of him. Unwilling to allow gravity to take hold on these creatures before he can take advantage of the situation, Alpha does a quick and complete 360 degree rotation to cut through all the enemies surrounding him like butter. When this is accomplished the Commander cocks his left arm to retract the sword and return the limb to normal size as the Primids disintegrate into "Shadows Bugs".

On the ground, Driad finally reaches the front of the massive enemy swarm and proceeds to wildly swing his claws out in front of him to tear straight through each and every Primid that happens to be crossing his path at the time and even managing to hit a few that were running close to their partners. After taking fifty-seven out Driad stops in place and thrusts his wooden claws right into the chest of a hapless Primid in front of him. Then he extends them out to the maximum length of twenty feet, impaling seven more enemies in the process. After his fanged grin becomes apparent, the wild living flower pulls both claws out through the sides of the Primids, swinging them both at a ninety degree angle and cutting through yet another thirty-nine enemies in the process. With no opportunity for a moment's rest being given to him with even more enemies rushing towards him, Driad digs his left claws into the dirt below him and commands a series of vines to drill across the surface to trip up about twenty-two more Primids that just so happen to pass by them. After that, the wolf warrior wiggles his paw forward slightly to disrupt the vines and cause them to wave up and down to send the tripped up enemies into the air.

After pulling his claw out of the ground the vines shrivel up and turn brown due to being deprived of its master's nutrients. Quickly taking advantage of the Primid's aerial helplessness, Driad detatches his claws from his paws and grips them between his "fingers" before flinging them wildly through the air like daggers, summoning more and more of them each time he flings them so he can keep up with his rapid-fire barrage without any breaks in between each toss. In time he has managed to put holes through each and every Primid floating in front of him, but during the time he spent doing this he has failed to notice that ten more of them are about ready to ambush him from behind. As they leap into the air to strike him though, they are instantly destroyed via a sweeping laser attack from an onlooking Alpha. With the threat of the two warriors now becoming prominent, the Subspace Army rethinks their plan of attack on the base. With only a second having passed the remainder of the swarm splits in half, one group still moving towards the base while the rest stay behind to deal with Alpha and Driad.

As the Commander lands on the ground with his back turned towards his friend's own, the two warriors exchange a glance between each other from over their shoulders, both of them anticipating each other's next move without uttering a word. First off, Alpha raises his arms high into the air as Driad does a backflip so his legs are pressing down against the suspenders of the Commander's limbs. Before the pressure limit is breached, the Goomba uses all of his might to propel the flower warrior into the air. With that out of the way, Alpha converts his arms into cannons once more and lowers them back down to the normal level with the energy charging. Once steady he fires two quick bursts of ion energy from the barrels that burn right through two lines of fifteen Primids each. Then he swings his arms out to the side of his body and shrinks the barrels so he can summon forth two thin energy blades from within like he did earlier.

With both limbs extended out just right, the Commander takes two steps forward, but suddenly his movements barely become visible to the other enemies as he streaks through the row that he created moments earlier. With a golden flash illuminating the space between the two rows of Primids, Alpha reappears on the other side with his arms held in such a way that the blades cross together before they retract and the arms revert to their original forms. As this happens, approximately thirty Primids are split in half across the stomach and dissolve into "Shadow Bugs". The next move for him after that is to spin himself around and fire off his right hand out in front of him with a thin metal rod attaching the back of it to the arm itself. With things timed perfectly, the Commander grabs ahold of Driad's head right before he hits the ground. But the flower warriors was not concerned about suffering any damage, and as he feels the cold light grip of his friend's metal fingers wrapping around his head he prepares for the next action by holding his arms out diagonally behind himself with the claws extended to the maximum length.

With a clear signal being given via that particular movement, Alpha pulls his hand back in with a thought, and before it returns all the way the wolf warrior manages to cleave through sixty more Primids. Then, the Commander lets go, causing Driad to fly towards him until he retracts his claws and grip onto the sides of Alpha's head so he can spin himself around and land right beside him with the underside of his paws resting flat against the ground. The almost 300 big army of Primids turn themselves around ready to vainly charge into battle once more. Understandably unphased by them by this point, the two warriors can be seen with a couple of pleasant, toothy grins on their faces as Alpha cracks his knuckles in front of him while Driad kneads the dirt beneath him with the tip of his left claws. Despite the threat that Subspace poses to their planet, both of them can't help but find themselves deeply enjoying the thrill of battle. Without anything else to say or do, both forces charge at each other to continue their fight.

E. Gadd, on the other hand, has matters of his own to attend to, as exactly 413 Primids can be seen charging the front side of the base without any signs of letting up. Having some knowledge of the weapons at his disposal, the professor goes right for the "Machine Gun" button and presses down onto it. In an instant two panels slide open on the roof of the base near the front doors, and out pops two six-hole cylinders attached between a two-pronged metal rod with both surprisingly deprived of any clips to fuel the weapon. But as it is soon revealed, it doesn't need any. For a series of laser bullets are fired out of the holes of the spinning cylinders and proceed to bombard the back rows of the incoming army, taking out 83 Primids with ease. Unfortunately, the weapons can't lower to take out the remainder of the enemies, so E. Gadd quickly presses down on the "Hover Lasers" button. How does he know what is going on outside when the walls are sealed shut? Because there is a monitor on the center of the screen that shows what is going on via a camera hidden in the mountside.

Anyways, the machine guns stop firing and retract into the roof, as two black orbs float out of the holes to take their place. But instead of staying stationary, they detect the life force of the "Shadow Bugs" within the Primids and swoop down towards them. Once halfway there they split open to reveal their delicate silver center, as two more small orbs with glass red plates on their bottoms pop out and begin to glow a bright crimson color. When they've fully charged all four miniature orbs unleash laser beams as they spin around the main orb that manages to carve a curved line into the ground as it burns through as many Primids as they possibly can before their energy reserves die out and they are forced to plummet towards the ground, where the ensuing explosion they create takes out another five enemies. So in total, the "Hover Lasers" took care of 119 of the remaining assault forces. But in the process of thinking of the next weapon to use, E. Gadd catches out of the corner of his eye that some of the Primids have managed to reach the door.

With them pulling their fists back in order to breech the steel plated doors, the Professor presses the yellow button underneath the monitor under the assumption that it has something to do with electricity. His guess being accurate, the doors are covered by an electric field that catches the Primid's punches before even the tip of their knuckles can touch what they are defended. With that, the seven attacking enemies start convulsing due to being electrocuted and then dissolve into "Shadow Bugs". With the remaining 204 Primids uncertain as to what to do, they stand motionless, making them easy pickings for the professor. At first he has a hard time deciding whether or not he should use the Holy Hand Grenade to take care of them, but after thinking things over a bit more he realizes that he would just be wasting the one use of it that he actually has, and instead moves his left hand over to the "Situation Convenient Widespread Weapon" button and presses down on it.

Upon its activation, the electric wall guarding the front door compresses into the shape of a hardened crescent with lightning surging around it as the newly formed object struggles to maintain its form. The very moment that the Subspace Army turns to look at it, it flies out towards them at blinding speeds, cutting them all in half until eventually they have all been struck down. Amazed by how efficient that last move was, E. Gadd folds his arms behind his wrinkled head and whistles to himself. During this moment of time in which the professor pulled off this impressive defense of his, Alpha and Driad have taken down the remainder of the Primids that they were fighting. However, the "Shadow Bugs" that remain all float into the air above the two fighters and huddle together to take on a cloud-like appearance. With a thousand enemies worth of "Bugs" hanging above them, the two of them are savvy enough to know that more, stronger enemies are about to take the place of the insignificant mooks that they just dealt with.

The first to emerge from the bottom of the cloud are 100 Shadow Auroros, which proceed to fly towards the Command Sphere with the intent of trying to break through it. Next up comes a wave of 25 Shaydas, 50 Jet Primids, 10 Neo Nagagogs, 65 Conductor Primids, 15 Giant Primids, 35 Shellopods, 10 Death Greaps, 75 new enemies that is a small robot head with arms of equal size and a propel on top and a bucket filled with hot metal chunks and thick gloves that prevent it from getting overheated (Buckots), and 45 more new enemies that appear to be floating green squids donning ash black trojan helmet with patches of red scattered around it and gladiuses clutched in the grasp of four of their appendages (Fallen Armights). The heavier enemies like the Nagaogs, Giant Primids, Shellopods, and Death Greaps are the first to land, their combined weight shaking the ground and almost causing Driad is lose his balance. The Buckots and Armights form two rings above the two warriors, while the smaller enemies stand in front of the bigger ones in order to act as sacrifices to draw them in so they are easy prey for the hard hitting attacks of their other brethren.

But like before, the Commander and the flower warriors are unphased, and as Alpha turns his body to the side he grabs onto the elbow of his right arm as it changes into its cannon form and cocks it upright with his eyes looking at the enemies above them. "I got the airborne battalion; you take the ground troops in return, alright?" Like with the Commander's earlier transformation, a beam of light falls down from the sky onto Driad, whose furry, moss coat is instantly shed off until he is back to his original form. Once the light fades though, he has now gained a set of small samurai armor that's made entirely out of wood, with a small, rose colored katana held tightly in his right vine hand. Also like before, faded images of the Star Spirits appear behind him. The flower warrior brandishes his weapon in front of him and without saying a word he nods his head to tell his friend that he is ready to take on the task given to him. Not needing to say anything else, Alpha leaps into the air and dashes towards one of Buckots, slamming the front of his cannon into its face and blasting it without any hesitation.

Two Armights approach him from both sides and swing their weapons in a cross formation to try and get a guaranteed shot in, but every strikes misses due to the Commander scooting back a couple of feet and then switching his arms into their laser blade modes and cutting them both down with a successful left-to-right stroke. In the time it takes for him to do this though five Buckots rise above him and tip their carrying units over, releasing their steaming load unto Alpha. But with how slowly it all descends it only takes a second for him to see it all coming above him with a raising of his head, and he responds appropriately by dashing forward and spinning his body around while pointing his left arm out in order to rapid-fire five energy needles to take care of the Buckots with ease. As he flies backwards, his cybernetic eye detects the energies of three Armights coming behind him, so he rises into the air, flips his body around, and uses his right blade to cut the enemies across the back in order to take them down.

With his arm held across the front of his face, Alpha's eyelids tighten as a scowl appears across his face and he converts both limbs back into their normal forms. As many more Armights and Buckots head his way, the Commander gets into a battle stance. "Do you not know who I am?" His question now asked to the inattentive enemies, Alpha thrusts one fist forward and punches an Armight away, then uses his other hand to casually crush the helmet of another one. "I've been the Commander of the M.S.I. for thirty years." He says as he uses the palm of his right hand to block a sword strike from another Armight, then knocks the weapon out of its grasp with a sway of the hand and blasts it in the face with his left cannon arm before positioning it at an eighty degree angle to blast another one that attempted to sneak attack him. "You think I've kept that rank by being weak?" He comments on while performing a backflip and spin-kicking two Buckots in the face. "You want to make me flinch, Lord of Subspace?" Once he is back to floating in mid-air, the Commanders grabs hold of an Armight's face and flings him upward to have it collide with one of the Buckots that was looking ready to dump it's metal on him, taking both of them out in the process. "Then bring out your big guns and stop boring me with your fodder!" He boasts as he converts both arms into their cannon forms and cutting a swath through five Armights and seven Buckots with his ion beams.

Then, the remainder of the aerial enemies begin to converge upon Alpha from all sides, and as the Goomba lets out an annoyed sigh in the face of the Subspace Army's continued resistence he turns his arms to normal with a brief shake. "Guess this is a better time then any to test this out..." He mumbles to himself as he turns his body downward and fires out his open right hand towards the ground with it still being attached to the rest of the arm by a metal rod like it was earlier. This time around, however, long, thin metal plates extend from the rod on all four sides every time the hand moves five feet closer to the ground. By the time the hand has reached the ground, there are exactly 528 plates set up, and the hand bolts itself to the ground in preparation for what is to come. Alpha grips tightly onto the area under his elbow and utters the following. "Senki Soni 2nd Style: Dictation of the Storm!"

What follows is the rapid rotation of every single plate moving around the rod in a harmonious fashion, their speeds picking up to the point that the air starts swirling around them, creating at first a rather small spiral of wind before it begins to pick up dirt and dust from the ground and increases in size to become a full blown tornado that consumes every last enemy that was charging at him and swirls them around to not only force them to collide with one another as they futily swing their arms around in an attempt to escape. Alpha, being in the eye of this storm, is completely safe from harm so long as he holds onto his right arm. One by one he detects the life forces vanishing off the radar of his cybernetic eye, and once the lasts one blips out he sends a mental command to his limbs in order to stop the tornado from accidentally dragging in Driad. As the plates slow down their rotation, so too does the speed of the tornado until it eventually grinds to a halt and the debris that was picked up begins to steadily float towards the ground from whence it came. When the Commander finally pulls his hand back in and clicks it into place, he turns himself around and looks down to see how his flowery friend is holding up.

As it turns out, Driad has already taken down all of the Primids, a few of the Shaydas, six of the Nagagogs, half of the Shellopods, and two of the Death Greaps. The remainder of the Death Greaps have the warrior surrounded at the moment though, but their flurry of scythe slashes are easily blocked by him calmly swinging his own blade around his body. Even more humiliating for the Subspace Army is the fact that Driad's eyes are closed, and yet he is still managing to avoid any damage thanks to him sensing the enemies' presences and anticipating their movements ahead of time. "Sigh..." Growing tired of playing defense, Driad increases the strength of his blows so he breaks apart the enemies' blades with the dull side of his own, rendering all of the Death Greaps defenseless, to which the flower warriors decided to put them out of their misery by impaling the ground with the tip of his sword and summoning eight man-eating plants out of the ground that devour the potter creatures whole before slinking back from whence they came just as quickly as they had arrived.

"Alright, next?" The flower warrior says while waggling his left vine out in front of his body to taunt the other enemies towards him. The Nagagogs, who are currently at their biggest size, march forward while their shoulders charge up gamma energy to unleash onto Driad. Gently curling his left vine up for a moment and letting the center of it glow pink for a moment before unfolding it and using his breath to send a flurry of cherry blossoms towards his foes. Curious as to what these unknown things are, the Nagagogs stop in place and hold their hands out to let them drop into their palms, deactivating their gamma chargers due to not wanting to harm these delicate bits of nature. But while their eyes are focused on these blossoms, Driad grasps the handle of his blade with both hands and positions it behind his back while kneeling down on one leg. The enemies look up and see Driad centered in their field of vision while everything else around them has faded to black. Then, a pinkish haze passes before them thanks to a series of cherry blossoms coming down from above. As their vision is completely obscured by them for a second, they fail to realize that their opponent has leapt towards them. When the blossoms have faded the Nagagogs are only allowed one more second of life to see the bringer of their demise before them as he cuts them in halfway with one broad stroke.

As the enemies split in half Driad can be seen standing behind them with his sword sheathed against his left hip. He looks up into the air towards Alpha, who is now floating closer to the ground with his angel wings steadily flapping as he looks on. "Hey, you wanna swap places? I'm starting to get bored here!" He hollers to him. The Commander cups his left hand around his mouth and responds with the following. "Just keep at it Driad, that feeling will be gone soon enough!" After reassuring his friend, the Goomba looks up at the mass of "Shadow Bugs" that still looms overhead, as he starts to feel the formation of a huge energy source coming from within. Somewhat annoyed that he has to keep at this, it takes Driad remembering that the fate of the world is at stake here for him to regain his enthusiasm as he turns around and pulls his sword back out ready to confront the last of the currently active ground units of the Subspace Army.

Back with the professor, he finds himself being attacked from all sides by the Shadow Auroros swarm, who are all currently using their sharp beaks to attempt to drill through the Command Sphere to reach him. For the moment he is keeping his composure, mainly due to how thick the protection around him is, but he knows for a fact that he is gonna have to do something about his attackers sooner or later. "In that case, better be sooner..." He comments to himself as he holds one hand against his chin and rubs it slowly while his eyes scan over the selection of weapons on the keyboard for something designed to specifically defend the sphere. "Geez, for all the options Alpha has in here, he doesn't exactly have anything to defend the person controlling these weapons...Oh wait, could this do the job?"

Moving his hand to a button that says "Chainsaw Massacre", he sees that there is text above the button that says "For Defense of the Roof Only", which causes him to let out an annoyed sigh as he realizes how tedious this is becoming. "Wait, I get how this works now!" Turning the cause of his disappointment into inspiration, E. Gadd looks over the keyboard one more time, this time paying more attention to the upper portion and finds that there is indeed text listing just what type of defense he can perform via which weapons, and eventually comes across the section that says "For Defense of the Command Sphere. Use Only If Life is in Mortal Danger." At that very moment though, the tip of one of the Auroros' beaks starts to break through to the inside, which to the professor presents a danger that pretty much fits the bill for the button labeled "?". With a pounding of his fist, the deed is done.

A blaring claxon fills the skies as a layer of lead protection spontaneously surrounds the inside of the Commander Sphere, forcing the Shadow Auroros to pull their beaks out before they get trapped. As they slowly flap their wings to keep themselves hovering in place, they tilt their heads upon noticing that the steel is starting to become a bright red color as heatwaves are slowly projected off the surface, causing the birds to fly back a bit to avoid them. However, it matters little as to how far they might choose to move away, for once the steel has been heated to the highest possible temperature, it releases a four-yard wide thermonuclear blast that disintegrates the Auroros and the "Shadow Bugs" that they are made out of. Then, to contain the radiation so it doesn't spread, two halves of an even larger lead sphere are launched from the nearby mountainsides and proceed to slam together once they reach the Command Sphere itself, successfully putting the explosion between two layers of this material. Even though he knows not as to what transpired outside, E. Gadd's ability to recognize the type of alarm and the lead surrounding him is a good enough sign to him that he no longer has anything to worry about...Except for the possibility of there being cracks in the lead and radiation leaking through and poisoning him. With nothing else to do for the time being, the professor decides to look around for a hazard suit.

By the time things are all said and done near the base, Driad has already taken down the remainder of his opposition, leaving Alpha with a moment's reprieve to use his cybernetic eye to make sure that there are no spectral or invisibility cloaked enemies in the area. And that turns out to be the case, as the only life form he can detect save for E. Gadd, himself and Driad is the solidifying mass in the "Shadow Bug" cloud above him. "Hmm, so it's almost ready...Driad!" Blurting out the name of his comrade as he continues to look upward causes the flower warrior to look up himself to pay attention to what he is about to say. "Yes?" Is his response. "Remember, the plan here isn't to kill the Frontline General, but to weaken them to the point that it'll be easy for me to overwrite their programming, understand?" "Without question, sir!" Driad says with an army style salute. "Good, cause the time for battle is now upon us!" As the energy levels within the cloud begin to spike even further, the Commander switches one arm to its cannon form while the other is changed to its sword form in preparation, while the lower warrior gets into a defensive stance with his sword held backhanded in both hand and the blade pointed horizontally to the left.

Within seconds the thing begins to emerge from the bottom of the cloud. It is revealed to be a two-sided robot riding on a single set of wheels; one half is dark pink with miniature sparkles representing stars scattered around it's body with a head cannon and two arm cannons, both weapons marked with the insignia of the Subspace Army on their sides. The other half is dark blue with a similar pattern to its opposite only with the stars being pitch black instead of sparkling, and with two arm swords and a curved blade on its head. Both sides have neon colored spiky shoulder exhaust pipes that are currently releasing steam from within. The wheels that it pivots on are the famous ying and yang symbols. As its massive girth crashes down onto the ground, the rocks crack and are pulled up as a cloud of dust is raised into the air. The green eyes from both sides of the robot glare through the cloud though and lock-on to both Driad and Alpha's genetic signatures. Upon identifying them as their enemies, the robot extends both of its heads out slightly and lets out a mechanical roar as both warriors continue to stand unfazed.

**The Weaponized Scales of Subspace: Nexus Duon**

Driad is the first to attack, leaping into the air and performing a "Z" shaped slash with his sword aimed at the pink side's chest. But the robot moves it's right cannon around fast enough that he is able to block each attack with minimal effort before switching the direction the arm is pointed to forward and firing one quick crimson laser that Driad himself is also able to block with the same amount of effort that Duon had used against his attack. Once on the ground the flower warriors flips his sword into the air and lashes his right vine arm out to wrap it around the barrel of the robot's right cannon. Using all of his might to try and pull the weapon clean off of the arm, his efforts are swiftly foiled as Duon uses his other arm to fire a laser that ignites the vine and forces Driad to detach it from his target, lash his left vine into the air to grab his weapon by the handle and bring it down to cut his right arm so the burning portion is separated from the rest before the fire can spread any further. Once that is done, he quickly regenerates what he lost and with a light toss he returns his weapon to the proper hand just in time for him to calmly swing it out in front of him to split two lasers that were fired right at him.

On Alpha's side of things, he is taking his time thinking about how to deal with the robot, and he has every right to do so considering how motionless the blue side is at the moment. The Commander chalks this up as the fact that because of where he is at at the moment, the seemingly close-ranged fighting part of Duon can't do anything to attack him. At the same time, he is also being attentive in regards to Driad's fight with the long-ranged side of the robot so he can learn what it's capabilities are so he will be prepared when he finally is able to hijack control of it from Tabuu. But while he has been deep in thought he has noticed out of the corner of his eyes that the formerly light glow on the sharp edge of the robot's blade arms has slowly been becoming brighter and redder until it has started to project rays of heat around them.

"Hmm?" He makes note of the fact that Duon's blue side is now lifting both arms up in front of its pronounced pointed chest before getting his cannon arm charged and positioned out in front of him ready to counter whatever the robot is preparing to fire at him. Meanwhile, the pink side is charging both of its arm cannons and cocking them out in front of its body. With both warriors armed and ready, they are caught completely off-guard when Duon spins itself around and the pink side fires two pulsating crimson beams at Alpha while the blue side swings its arms out and sends a flaming "X" out at Driad. This sudden switch up forces the flower warrior to hold his sword out vertically in front of his body to keep the attack from ripping him into four pieces and in turn burning him to ashes. But with his eyes squinting from the blinding light protruding from the fire, his lowered range of vision prevents from noticing the fact that blue side of Duon is pulling his head back with the blade on his head glowing the same as his arms previously did, and with one swing a crescent shaped thing of similar appearance as the other attack is fired at the warrior.

This attack is so strong that is breaks through the center of the "X" and hits the sword square on, spreading fire around in the air that ends up behind the blade and touches the surface of Driad's samurai helmet, causing the inevitable to happen because of it. With his head and brain in danger of being scorched, the warrior jams the tip of his weapon into a crack in the ground and uses both of his hands to pull his helmet off of his head and toss it off to the side, the petals around his head spreading out now that they've been allowed freedom once more. After that, he lifts his sword out and performs a spinning mid-air kick to send the weapon flying right towards Duon's chest, only for it to be swatted away with a simple swipe of the arm. However, Driad lashes both of his vine arms out and wraps them around the noodle-like elbows of the creature. "I lose some of my armor, and you lose your weapons. I say that is a fair trade-off!" With one painful sounding grunt Driad tightens his vines around the arms as much as he can and crushes them down to a more wrinkled form before they both become weak enough for him to easily rip right off. Upon doing so, the sword arms fall onto the ground before the flower warrior retracts his vines back into his body before lifting them up above his head and flinging the weapons away into the distance.

In the end though, it was a futile effort because a swarm of "Shadow Bugs" move through Duon's body towards the arms and quickly do their part to reconstruct the sword arms, this time though they add a second blade to both of them along with making them longer. "..." Driad stands with his arms drooped below him for a few seconds before mentally calling his sword back into his right hand and raising his body up with his posture showing confidence despite his annoyed expression. "That figures..." He thinks as he grits his teeth and prepares for round two. Meanwhile, Alpha and pink side of Duon are currently engaged in a Beam O' War, with neither side showing any signs of being able to get an advantage over the other, which is incredible considering that the robot has fused two of its beams together in order to combat the Commander.

With its orders given to overcome all obstacles no matter how strong they are, the pink side of Duon wastes no time in analyzing the scenario and coming up with the best countermeasure. The cannon on the robot's head starts to glow as a dark blue sphere surrounded by a black shroud of lightning grows above the barrel. After three seconds, three blue bolts are fired out from the center of the orb in rapid succession. With one arm still free, Alpha switches his left arm back to normal and holds it in front of his forehead and opens a hatch in the center, calling forth a bionic plate that projects a 3 foot wide holy energy shield all-around it. Though his plan is wise, these particular "lasers" are not so easily stopped, and as the first one melts right through the shield with ease and would've almost burned the Commander has he not shifted his head to the left he drops both his shield and the firing of his beam and gracefully moves out of the way to avoid the other two bolts as the robot swerves its wheels around so it can still follow Alpha with its fused beam.

This causes a problem for the blue side though as now it can't do anything to attack Driad. To send a clear enough to its opposite as to how detrimental it is being to their overall progress, Duon's blue side slams its two sword arms into the ground and uses them to effectively grind their total movement to a halt, which in turn forces the pink side to stop firing its beam since he can no longer do anything. As the blue side of the robot lifts its blades out of the ground, the two sides begin to argue among each other via a series of un-translatable robotic clicks. The blue side seems to mainly be upset about the fact that he desperately wants to tear into the warrior he was just fighting, while the pink side tries to rationalize with his chaotic partner by pointing out that a well-planned strategy will land them a decisive victory. With both of them wasting their time bickering endlessly, the pink side fails to notice Alpha performing a quick U-Turn through the air with both of his arms converted into the shape of rocket launcher barrels that are pointed out in front of his body.

After a puff of smoke appears in front of the barrels, two red tipped white rockets fly out of them and home in on the head of Duon's pink side. However, once he catches a glimpse of the Goomba's approach the robot retaliates by holding its right shoulder out in front of itself and firing two rockets of its own that meet Alpha's at the halfway point and collide, creating two 10-yard wide explosions that the Commander proceeds to fly right through ready to attack again with his barrel flipped around to reveal two curved attachments with a series of holes poked into them that have glowing red needles sticking out. The rapid-fire bombardment of them which ensues not a moment afterwards is unable to be countered by Duon, as the objects stick themselves right into the sides of the robot's rounded arms. After five beeps that continue to get louder with each passing second, the needles all detonate simutaneously, covering the frontal section of the robot with a series of explosions while also blowing bits of metal off of the arms to reveal the more delicate wires underneath.

The "Shadow Bugs" quickly get to work repairing the damages by replacing the missing plates with that of two miniature tri-barrel laser turrets. Alpha dives down towards the ground and flips his body around so his feet start skidding across the smooth rocks below him once he lands, and he converts both of his arms into that of Tommy Guns and begins firing bullet after bullet after bullet out of them that pierces through the laser shots being fired at him yet fails to put a dent into the reinforced gold turrets. Once he is out of their range, the Commander swiftly turns his arms into their sword wielding states and does one short hop into the air to perform a 720 degree spinning slash that allows the tip of his blades to cut apart the rim of Duon's right wheel, the sudden loss of weight causing the robot to tip in that direction, though the blue side deals with that problem in an instant by using its left arm to prop its body up until the "Shadows Bugs" perform the proper restoration.

But in the meantime, Alpha skids to a stop beside Driad and turns his arms back to normal. "We got only a short amount of time Driad." He whispers to his floral companion. "I can see that..." He responds, sheathing his sword and folding his arms in front of his chest while waiting for the next plan of action. "So why don't you use that gigantic tornado move of yours again to rip the robot to shreds?" "Well for one, we need it alive, remember? Second, I can't use my Senki Soni 2nd Style again until I make repairs to the plates, since they got bent out of alignment upon me dragging them back into my arm. And I don't exactly have a free moment here now do I?" "Yeah, I suppose that is true. So how should we attack it then?" "We need to target the center. From what I've noticed this mechanized monstrosity has no weaponry that allows it to defend that area. The only way I'm going to be able to hijack that machine is if I'm able to connect to the circuitry buried underneath the metal, but the fact that the Shadow Bugs are able to repair any damage we inflict while at the same time improving on its designs to adapt to whatever it is that harmed it in the first place only complicates matters."

"Then allow me to be bait that'll draw its attention away from you." Driad proclaims as he pulls his back out of his hilt and brandishes it at Duon. "Good idea, but it's not going to work." Alpha says with teeth gritted tightly. "How come?" The flower warrior asks with his head tilted towards his friend. "Besides the two-headed element that has to be taken into consideration, there is also the fact that the robot has the ability to incorporate fire into its attacks, and you should already know what that means." At the end of his sentence the Commander nudges his head backwards to point towards the ashes that remain of Driad's wooden helmet. "So what else could you possible expect me to do then?" The flower warrior comments on. "Going to have to tell you in a bit, because it's back on its wheels now!" As the robot roars out and turns itself around so the blue side is facing the two warriors, Alpha leaps into the air and turns his right arm into its sword form while Driad quickly slashes out in front of him, sending out a wave of green energy that connects with Duon's chest. A cloud of sparkles fills the air as vines grow out from the robot and begin to bind themselves around its limbs and neck to limit its movements.

As Duon struggles to break free, the flower warrior follows up his previous attack by snapping his fingers and causing rosebuds to appear on the thorns of the vine. "Someone I once knew considered those to be the best flowers in the world..." Driad murmurs as the buds bloom and the petals lively spread out. "Time for you to see just why she did..." With another snap of the fingers, the roses burst one by one, creating a toxic pink smoke cloud that also spreads petals all over the place that conceals the battlefield for both sides of the robot. Giving the Commander a quick thumbs up, Alpha nods to thank his friend for the momentary distraction as he places his left arm in front of his mouth and dials up E. Gadd on his built in communicator. "Professor, everything ok on your end?" Back in the dome, the stout professor has put on a yellow hazard suit and is currently sitting on the chair as Alpha calls in to him.

"I'm here, alive and unharmed." He responds, leaning his head forward so the Goomba can better hear him. _"Excellent. I'm going to need you to do something for me. I assume you haven't used the Holy Hand Grenade yet, correct?" _"No, I haven't." _"Good, good. So here is what I want you to do. That weapon has a targeting system that will show the arc of which the grenade will travel through towards whatever lifeforms are in range. However, the robot we are fighting is currently outside the range necessary to do any damage. Me and Driad are going to lure it closer to the base so you can do your thing. BUT, I want you to know right now that the goal here isn't to destroy the robot, but to damage the center of it with the edge of the explosion. You got plenty of time to figure out how to do this professor; I know you can do it. Oh, and one more thing. The grenade will go off 5 seconds after firing, so take that info into consideration. Now, let us do this."_

With the blossom cloud dying out, Alpha shuts off his communicator and gets back into the battle. Angered by the flower warrior's previous action, Duon revs its wheels and charge forward with its body leaned forward to increases the speed of which it moves. The robot also begins to swing its arms around wildly in front of him to try and tear Driad apart. Fortunately, with his quick reflexes Driad is able to block each strike, jumping back slightly at every available opportunity so his guard isn't eventually broken through. "Just keep doing that Driad!" Alpha hollers out to his friend. The flower warrior stops for a moment upon hearing that comment, and puts two and two together to come to the obvious conclusion that whatever he is doing right now is going to help them win this battle. So he keeps at what he is doing, slowly but surely edging closer to the base until he decides to stand still and press against Duon's sword arms with the side of his blade, digging his vines into the ground to give him better support.

In the Command Sphere, E. Gadd presses down onto the "Holy Hand Grenade" button and watches as a scope pops out of the ground in front of him and moves in to the front of his face with a crank below it that'll allow him to adjust the arc that the weapon will be fired at, with outline of Driad, Duon and Alpha showing up on a green background. "Gently now..." The professor mutters as he slowly turns the crank to the right until the end of the arc ends up a few feet into the air above the center of the robot. "There we go." Satisfied with how things look, E. Gadd reaches down to the middle of the scope and punches the red "Fire!" button. At that prompt, a metal plate leading into a chute opens up on the roof of the base and out fires a yellow-white checkered sphere with a cross on the top. As the seconds pass the holy glow surrounding it glows brighter and brighter, until it eventually plummets and reaches the desired location. Before that though, Driad notices it and retracts the vines on his feet and jumps back.

Right before detonation, an echoing chant of the word "Hallelujah!" fills the skies. The ensuing radiating blast catches Duon completely off-guard, as the layer of metal on the top of its body and on the back of its heads are torn apart and consumed by the collapsing holy explosion. Once it has reached the smallest possible size, Alpha dives in and lands on the top of the regenerating robot and transforms his right arm into a miniature version of the soundwave projector and jams it into the wiring of the mechanical monstrosity right before the access to it is sealed up. As the commands are being sent into Duon to override the commands of its creator, the automatic defense system of the robot is activated, as it sticks its arms down into the side of its wheels and begins to spin around at speeds that would rip apart any normal creature just from being in close proximity with it.

With his wings folded in and his other arm nailed into the robot's body, Alpha is able to keep himself from falling off even as the speeds continue to get higher and higher. "Hmm? What is this?" He mutters to himself as he shows how unphased he is by what is going on around him. _"Unknown Tech Found. Initializing I.P. Now...Loading, loading...Subspace Protection Field obtained. Fire Blade obtained. Plasma Beam obtained." _A cybernetic voice says from the Commander's left arm. "Plasma Beam? Well that's not really useful, Ionic energy is better than Plasma Energy anyways..." He muses to himself as he feels as if he is getting closer to a complete hijacking of Duon's systems. "Just a little further..." After a few more seconds, the process is done, and the robot's spinning slowly grinds to a complete halt as its faces and arms droop downwards. This shutdown only lasts a bit because everything is being rebooted to conform to its new master's desires.

When it's done, the gears clink as the robot whirs back to life, its eyes changed to a golden color as the heads rise back up and the body turns around to face the looming Subspace Orb. With the first part of his plan all said and done, Alpha disconnects the projector from the top and watches as the metal heals itself. Sensing no malice from the robot, the Commander decides to do a quick test run just to make sure that everything is in order. "Let's see here, what is your name again? Based on your appearance, I'm guessing you are Duon, correct?" The robot's blue head turns to the left and nods in response. "Alright, so you can understand me. That's good. Now, before we hea-" Just as he is reaching the end of his sentence, the Commander senses a thousand lifeforms approaching from the orb. Turning his head to look towards it, he sees an entire legion of Metal sword-wielding Primids rushing out from it. "Guess they want to wrestle control of you back from me."

At that moment, Driad leaps over Duon and lands off to the upper right of the robot. "Go Alpha! I can take them out easily!" He says while grasping the handle of his sword with both hands and holding it out beside the right side of his head. "You sure about that?" Alpha asks out of concern for his friend's well-being. "I'd be lying if I said no. Does that tell you what you want to hear?" "Actually, no. It tells me what I needed to hear. Thank you for doing this, my friend. Now then..." With his new accessories acquired, the Commander activates the Subspace Protection Field by pressing down on the palm of his right hand. In an instant a clear veil appears around his entire body, and he brandishes his left hand out in front of his body. "Alright Duon...Next stop, Star Haven!" With his command loudly given, the robot complies and revs up its wheels to charge forward through the Primid swarm, plowing them all into the air as it moves closer and closer to the Subspace Orb. Before he enters though, Alpha turns around and takes one last look at Driad as the enemies begin to surround him. After a green flash though, every Primid foolish enough to get near him is blown into the air by a petal filled explosion, followed by the flower warrior leaping into the air and cutting down every enemy above him with swift cuts across the gut. Proud to see his friend's continuing dedication to the fight, the Commander gives a tender smile as both he and Duon slink into the dark depths of Subspace...


	4. Battle of Star Haven

As the battle of the M.S.I. was occurring far away though, Alex had arrived on Star Road thanks to Alpha's teleportation device. Once there he rushed to the Sanctuary in Star Haven to meet up with the Star Spirits and alert them of the incoming threat. To his surprise though he finds the wooden blue-cloaked doll that goes by the name of Geno and the little star named Twink also standing around on the center altar in the room with the seven holy figures in wait in the air surrounding them. Having overheard the details about the threat from Subspace from above, Geno was just getting ready to find the boy and ask him for his assistance. You see, at this current period of time the star warrior had a "promotion" of sorts forced upon by a group he referred to only as "the higher-ups", which has left the dream's and wishes of the planet to be observed by both him and his new assistant Twink. The Star Spirits themselves are only there to act as mentors for their children, and are prohibiting from interfering in mortal affairs themselves for a few years.

So for the next few minutes Alex and Geno exchange what they know, the two holy figures conversing with respect towards one another until the star warrior is able to explain what the decided course of action shall be. Putting all of his trust into leaving the confines of Star Haven to the protection of the young Twink, the doll and the Overlord head out to the edge of the bridge between the mortal plain and Star Haven, the sparkling pathway known to many as the Star Road, where Alpha figures the Subspace Orb is going to appear at. Since there seems to be a few minutes left before the phenomena in question is stated to emerge before their line of sight, the two heroes decided to spend some quality time conversing about their lives over the last couple of months.

As the calm and collected Geno folds his arms into the front of his chest, Alex is standing beside him with flaming sword in hand, flipping it around into the air while whistling one of those old "pass the time" tunes that one would normally hear in a busy workplace. "So how does it feel to bear the burden that the Star Spirits once had to deal with?" The boy says to start things off, taking the tip of his weapon's blade and balancing it effortlessly on the tip of his left pointer finger. "Admittedly, it is a harder job than they made it appear to be. The only reason I've managed to last this long without breaking down mentally is because I've had Twink to help me. That, and because of the tidbits of information I gathered from watching and learning from the Star Spirits themselves. Still, I have to endure this trial, even with the looming thought on my mind that I will fail to grant the wishes of every person who decides to pray to us."

"I believe you can pull it off Geno. You know, if you showed me the ropes I could assist you now and then that would alleviate the burden of the matter somewhat, right?" Alex's reply is met with a hearty laugh from the star warrior, as he jeers his head back and closes his eyelids for the full effect. "Hehehe…I thank you deeply for the offer my friend, but I'm afraid I was specifically told by the 'higher-ups' that you aren't allowed to assist me. Otherwise I would've accepted your offer in a heartbeat." Disappointed in the doll's response, Alex swipes his sword out of the air by grabbing onto the handle and swinging it halfway in front of his chest while keeping a backhanded grip on it, putting his teeth together while he comes up with a quick sentence to say to his friend. "Such a pity, but I guess that's life…"

"Speaking of life, how has yours been holding up? Did your attempt to scavenge the remains of the Origin Temple lead to any interesting remnants?" "Sort of, kind of, not really…" The Overlord dully replies, swaying the top part of his body from left to right three times before positioning himself back to normal. "It's kind of a long story, so I'll tell you about it once the Subspace Army has been dealt with. Besides that though, things have been pretty normal. Now while we are on the subject of the enemy, remind me again as to how we are going to keep the Haven safe?" "Very well. First off, I had Twink use some of the residue energy from the Star Rod's last use to cast an invisible protective field around the area. Next, I used a secret chant to flip the entire Haven around so that the REAL Star Road is now on the other side of where we are. Finally, I created the thing you see before you…"

Puzzled by the emphasis on the word "Real" in Geno's explanation, Alex looks out in front of him and notices the plain as day changes that have happened to the mystical pathway. For one, the Star Road had become a straightaway instead of the spiral road it was before. The second and only other change was that the "Road" has indents in it that make it look more or less like a staircase. "Good thinking Geno…" The Overlord says with a great emphasis on praising the star warrior. "Actually, there is more to it than just that. The pathway has an illusion spell cast upon it that forces anyone who walks on it to continue on endlessly until they tire. The Star Spirits have used these three techniques in the past to ward off intruders who carry malicious intent in their hearts. So when the Subspace Orb appears we will have a battlefield without end to fight on, so we won't have to deal with overcrowding or the slight probability of either one of us hitting the other with a stray attack or two." After all has been so rightfully explained to him by the wise star warrior, the Overlord places his sword into the ground and turns to look at Geno, beginning a slow yet delicate clap after he has him right in his sights. "You've done a great job here Geno. But this is only the beginning. Now honestly, even with my title as the Elemental Overlord, I'm too young to come up with a really good motivational speech for us before the battle commences…So-"

As Alex rubs the back of his head and awkwardly tries to explain himself to his friend, the star warrior swiftly raises his right hand up to stop him mid-sentence. The boy's face flinches in reaction, his heart momentarily skipping a beat as goosebumps rise up on his skin in anticipation for his friend has to say. "Alex, a title doesn't define who you are. Who you choose to be defines who you are. So tell me, who do you choose to be? A hero to the Kingdom, or the victor of this battle?" With many possible responses soon racing in his head, the young Overlord tightly grips the handle of his sword and pulls it out of the ground, spinning it around beside his body and then brandishing it out in level with his shoulders once he is ready to response. "I choose to be me, the me who will forever stay true to himself. And what me is saying is that we shall fight heroically against the army, and emerge victorious."

"Hehehe, and you say that you can't come up with a good motivational speech…Well I feel plenty motivated after what you just said, Alex." Geno replies as he does one last thing to get ready for battle. Unlike the light show that the other heroes on the battlefield had to call forth to change forms, the doll merely has to raise his arms up to draw on the might of the Star Spirits due to his close proximity with the Sanctuary where they are at. Once he does so though his cloak turns pitch black, the wood on his body becomes darker in color, and the yellow parts on the articles of clothing become ruby red. In this form he is known as "Ztar Geno", since his appearance resembles that of the evil counterpart of the normal Power Stars on the planet. But even with this dark appearance his personality remains the same.

It is at that point that the Subspace Orb finally appears at the end of the Star Road. Like its other appearances it expands to the proper size needed to disperse the army into the realm of the living, its presence looking all the more ghastly near the starlight surroundings. Before the first row of Primids can emerge from the orb, Alex slashes his sword out in front of him to send a wave of flaming energy to cut a few of them down, while Geno sends out a Geno Beam from both arms to burn through the rest. The second row of Primids stops its advance right when the loss of their allies becomes evident, and they promptly retreat into the orb to rethink their plan of attack.

A few seconds later the Primids re-emerge from the orb, this time around they are followed by two Death Greaps, ten Shadow Auroras, Ten Buckots, and a band of fifteen sandy brown Marionette puppets that float cautiously through the air attached to piano strings and with long claws in place of its fingers. Its glowing red eyes flash on and off, as if it is building up energy in them for some kind of attack (Puppits). Alex and Geno decide to divide themselves up to cover both types of enemies. The young Overlord boosts off the ground and flies towards the aerial enemies, effortlessly slashing through the Buckots without breaking so much as a sweat. The Puppits are a little more troublesome though. With the sharp claws of theirs they are able to momentarily block the young Overlord's advances and force him to pull back to avoid getting cut as the others try to swarm him.

Eventually, when Alex finds an opening to break through and take them down in one spin attack, the Puppits eyes stop blinking, a purple trail of smoke emerging from the eyes to signal the release of their attack. The marionette's surround the boy like a sphere and fire three sets of lasers from the eyes at him. He quickly dispatches of the first two sets by doing the spin attack as originally planned to send the first set to negate the second, then he does another attack in rapid succession to send the third set back at their owners, which burns them to the point of disintegration. After which he spins his sword around himself and raises it above his head with one hand, plummeting down at rapid speeds to cut one of the two Death Greaps in half, following up with a spin kick that knocks two Primids right off of Star Road.

As the other Death Greap charges forward in vain to try and get Geno, the star warrior merely raises one hand out with knuckles held up and snaps his fingers. A pillar of aurora light comes down from above and smites the four-armed creature, melting it to the core. A few more of those very pillars deal with the rest of the Primids with ease. There is no break in the fighting though, as the next wave of enemies comes through the orb in the span of a second. There are plenty of Primids, Armanks, Shellpods, Neo Nagagogs, and a new set of enemies. A multitude of wheels similar to the "Glices" seen earlier emerge from the orb, only these have yellow instead of blue inside of them.

While Alex is distracted with cutting down the Primids that charge at him, the wheels roll up in front of him and open their segments apart. The young Overlord looks down and feels the static building up inside of them. He then performs a backflips as electricity surges around them and combines together, creating an electric field that successfully blocks the crescent shaped wind blade that the boy sends out of his sword not a moment later. "Really now?" He the notes with a sly grin on his face as he lands on the ground and tosses his sword up into the air so his hands will be freed up for a bit. He holds his arms out in front of his body and sucks in the electricity from the "Glunders" body, essentially draining them of their life essence and causing them to shrivel up and turn to dust. The young Overlord swiftly claps his hands in front of his chest to send a powerful electric shockwave out that short-circuit's the Armanks and causes them to send themselves off the edge of the Star Road. Their fates are better left not told.

But with his arms blocking his line of sight, the boy is charged in the gut by the horn of one of the Shellpods. The recoil from the attack sends him tumbling back through the air far away from where he left his sword in mid-air. Thankfully, the weapon falls down and pierces through the Shellpods shell to kill it, leaving it impaled in the ground for his master to reclaim. After bouncing off the Star Road twice, Alex regains his focus and performs a backflip with his palms pressed against the ground to propel him behind Geno. He skids behind the doll and stamps one hand onto the ground to brake himself. "Lost your weapon?" The star warrior dully notes. "Pretty much, yeah." The young Overlord says without a hint of care in his voice. Geno raises both of his hands into the air and looks over his shoulder at his partner.

"Don't worry about it, I'll deal with them while you go and retrieve it." At the signal of the doll thrusting his arms out in front of his body, Alex stands up and proceeds to dash past him out onto Star Road. With the enemies wandering forever along the illusionary pathway, they don't realize the problem with their advance. But when they see the young Overlord getting in close they charge forward to try and attack them. Unfortunately for them he wastes no time in trying to attack, instead he rushes past them as a series of aurora beams flash down and bombard the helpless foes. It turns out though that the boy is not fast enough in this form, as the beams are very close to coming in contact with his skin.

With the sword only a couple feet away, Alex quickly lowers his left arm to sweep it up by the handle and immediately cut down a Primid that stood in front of him, letting go off his weapon afterwards so he can spin his body around and grab it in his other hand for better combat capabilities. He then jumps back before the one of the light beams can hit him and holds his sword out horizontally in front of him, dispelling the flames momentarily so the reflective surface of his blade can send some of the light out towards the remaining enemies. The thin beam slices them all in half through the middle, their split halves dissolving into "Shadow Bugs" and returning to the orb from whence they came.

Satisfied with their progress so far, Alex wipes the one drop of sweat from his forehead with a swift flick of the wrist. Having exerted minimal effort thus far, the young Overlord fully believes that it will be far too easy for both himself and Geno to fend off the Subspace Army. But the sound of a booming, mechanical roar from within the orb puts both heroes on guard as they wait for the next wave of enemies to emerge. However, it is not a group of enemies that emerges from the phenomena, but a large tank-like vehicle that comes through the veil at rapid speeds and rams itself right towards Alex. But this around the boy is aware of his surroundings and holds his sword out to block the charge, his feet being pushed back a couple of yards out of recoil from the attack.

The jet engines of this mechanical monstrosity roar loudly, not only to keep the tank moving forward but to also distract its target with the noise it emits. Even with all of his strength being mustered the young Overlord can't break through the offense of his mysterious opponent. So he calmly turns his head to glance at Geno from over his shoulder and politely asks for his assistance, to which the doll responds to with a nod and an unveiling of his folded arms. Trusting his ally to swiftly deal with the enemy, Alex lets up his defense and quickly thrusts himself into the air. With the tank now charging towards the star warrior, the young Overlord notices hundreds upon hundreds of Primids emerging from behind the vehicle and without giving it so much as a thought he takes a nosedive to meet them out in front.

When the enemies stop upon gazing at his presence, Alex quickly stabs his weapon into the Star Road and cracks his knuckles in front of his chest. "Hello, am I right to assume that you are the party of Mooks that ordered an extra-large order of 'Ass-Whoop' on the phone earlier today?" The Primids turn to look at each other, these silent creatures being incapable of responding to the question given to them by the young Overlord. With a cocky grin smeared across his delighted face, the boy moves his arms off to the sides of his body and wiggles his fingers back and forth to loosen the muscles in them. "What a pity, because by your expressions I can tell that you want some of what I have to offer." With his boast thus proclaimed, the boy charges forward to fight the poor Primids in physical combat.

Meanwhile, Geno has pulled his right fist up over his arm to reveal the miniature cannon underneath. Drawing in starlight from the air around him into the hole, a flash appears on the front of it before a large, sparkling blue cylinder shaped beam fires out of it towards the incoming tank. The force of the beam grinds the advance of the vehicle to a halt, though one has to wonder why the doll is even bothering when the illusion spell is still in effect. It is then revealed that the tank is actually making progress in comparison to the rest of the Army. This could possibly be attributed to the fact that unlike the rest of them, this vehicle is fully mechanical and thus it doesn't have a mind or soul necessary to be affected by the spell.

Even so, Geno is doing his job well, his beam continuing to prevent the tank from going any further despite how much power is being put into its engines. Eventually the strain of trying to push on becomes too great for the vehicle and the engines overload, sparks and smoke shooting out of them as it quickly uses a set of rockets on the holes in the bottom of the engines to launch itself into the air and out of the way of the Geno Beam, which flows across the Star Road and nearly burns Alex across the back in the process.

While it is in the air two bulky fists pump out of the back of the engines, revealing themselves to be limbs that spin around to the top of the body and become the arms necessary for the robot to fight with. The legs pop out from the bottom, the face lifting up and positioning itself forward to reveal the iron-clad mask that covers it. When the force of gravity finally drags it back onto the Star Road, a massive cloud of sparkling dust rises up into the air. The wind-blown ruffles Geno's cape as he raises an arm to avoid the dust getting into his eyes. Once it has all settled the true, full form of his opponent is revealed. It is a giant, golden robot which has simian features and covered from head to toe in a heavy mechanized arsenal, possessing two rocket launchers as shoulder weapons and powerful jets on its feet. There are silver arm braces over his bulky forearms. The robot kneels forward and leans its left arm against the road, glaring down at the star warrior while letting out a loud, grating mechanical roar. Geno stands undeterred and sways his cloak to the left before brandishing that very arm out in front of him with the cannon portion ready to fire…

**Warmonger from the Mechanical Depths: Hyper Galleom**

Galleom is the first to make a move, using the left rocket launcher on its back to send one missile straight at Geno. The doll fires a quick beam to destroy it before its blast radius gets in range of his body. But the robot alternates the arm of which it leans on and fires two more missiles in rapid succession, one of which is also destroyed by Geno while he then swiftly jumps into the air to avoid the second one before it can come in contact and singe his body. The edge of the explosion almost reaches the heel of his feet, but the doll flips his around diagonally to avoid it and rapid fires a series of bullets at the mask of the robot. Tapping off of his hard metal skin like they were nothing more than flies, Galleom lifts both his head and right fist into the air. The uppercut of his is blocked by Geno turning his arms back to normal and holding his hands out to absorb the force of the attack through his hardened palms.

Gently lowering the lower part of his body through the air, the doll presses his feet against the upper knuckles of the fist and kicks off of them to get out of the way. After one or two tumbles he floats in place and pulls his right arm behind himself, drawing in more star energy to form a solid saw blade shaped energy disc that hovers between his fingers and thumb. Closing his eyelids slightly to focus, he notices the robot getting ready to fire some more missiles at him. With a shift in the direction his arm is pointed at he flings the disc faster than the time span in which one could bat an eyelash. The left rocket launcher is broken off at the stem, the force of the spinning disc sending the weapon flying off the edge before it could fire. As smoke rises from the second launcher to signal that is ready to fire, Geno takes his left arm and swings it out beside him. The Geno Whirl curves around and makes a return trip towards the hand of its owner, cutting off the second launcher in the process and making it suffer the same fate as the previous one.

Even with those two weapons gone, Galleom still has more up its sleeves to unleash upon the unsuspecting star warrior. Raising both fists into the air, the three holes on its forearms open up to reveal gatling guns that begins to rapidly send bullets towards Geno's way. Once he has grasped the Geno Whirl and absorbed the energy into his body for later use, the doll swerves his body to the right, a few of the miniscule projectiles managing to poke through the edge of his cloak. He then lowers himself onto the ground and crosses his arms in front of his face, using the essence of the fake Star Road to summon a pentagon shaped barrier in front of his body that successfully absorbs the brunt of the rapid-fire bullet barrage. And that is meant quite literally, for once enough ammunition has been sucked into the mystical shield it then starts to deflect any others that remain off to the side, releasing a brief flash around the edge to show that it is ready to go at its master's command.

Geno spreads his arms out beside himself and thrusts the palms into the star emblem on the backside of the shield, sending out a giant bullet that is simply a combination of all the others fired into it. With the barrier broken almost instantly after its time has expired, Geno flips backwards to avoid a few bullets that managed to go around his big one. That very same bullet flies through the air and scrapes across the top of Galleom's left forearm to destroy the Gatling guns, the explosions from their destruction inflicting interior damage to that very limb as well. The doll rushes towards the left and leaps towards the edge of Star Road with his right arm out held. A brief flicker appears on the bottom of his palm as a warning to its target, but with the mindless warmonger focused so hard on the destruction of its assigned target it is incapable of doing anything as three thin beams flash by and pierce through the barrels of the remaining guns. A chain reaction caused by the bullets being broken and the powder ignited on the inside blows the weapons apart and keeps flames burning in the holes until they are promptly sealed up by the robot.

The doll places his left hand against the ground and does a light somersault to get himself floating dead center in the air once more. He makes sure not to pass outside the boundary of the fake Star Road, for doing so would remove the illusion and allow the possibility for some of the Subspace Army to slip by Alex and launch a direct attack on the barrier. Galleom's eyes flash and two laser beams shoot out of them a moment later. Geno backhands them both away with a single swipe of his right arm, then thrusts both limbs out in front of his body and decides to show the robot what real laser beams look like. With his cannons swiftly drawn he fires out two giant "Geno Beams" at Galleom, which blow up on contact and create a massive cloud of dust that covers the robot completely in view. The only thing visible to the doll is the electric sparks coming from Galleom's overload circuitry.

Inside the cloud, the robot is stuck on his knees with the palms of his hands flat against the fake Star Road. With its body on the verge of shutting down, Galleom is about ready to activate the Subspace Bomb hidden in his head when some unnatural force causes him to freeze in place. A voice calls to him from the beyond. _"__You have not done your duty yet…The Elemental Overlord is still alive…Don't worry, I will help you finish off this little gnat…" _Once the person is done speaking to him Galleom's eyes flash a light-blue color, something of which does not go unnoticed by Geno as he is busy dusting his palms off. When the dust has finally begun to fade the robot slowly pushes itself back to its normal position, but there is something off about its appearance now. With an aura surrounding its head that is similar to the texture of the Subspace Orbs, the golden on its body has become violet, while the silver portions start to rust and become greasy in texture. Galleom pumps its arms into the air and lets out a massive, rejuvenated roar the likes of which has a force strong enough to blow Geno's cape back behind him. "This doesn't look good…" The star warrior thinks to himself with his eyelids slanted with uneasy…

**The Warmonger Unleashed from Hell: Imperial Galleom**

The first thing the new Galleom does is swiftly leap out towards Geno and thrusts his left palm out, an action which fails to garner a physical reaction from the doll as he thus slammed into the flat side of a barrier, which wiggles around from the impact of the attack. Roaring as he presses, all of the robot's might proves incapable of breaking through the barrier, though his efforts have caused a bump to start forming on the other side. With his arms incapable of performing any actions, the star warrior is helpless in the face of the robot's sheer strength. "What is going on here? I shouldn't be caught up like this…The robot's speed and power has increased substantially, that's for certain…But how? And this scent, while it reminds me of that of the Subspace Army, I can also feel something even more sinister coming from it…" Thinking of both the changes in his opponent and of a way to escape at the same time, Geno manages to flips his hands around so the palms are pressed against the barrier.

"Bit of a risk, but I have no choice in the matter…" He then draws in energy from the barrier. While this does weaken it slightly, it also creates a static blue glow around his two hands, which he then turns around to unleash upon his unsuspecting foe. With his eyelids now slanted downwards, Geno fires two beams roughly the size of his hands out that cuts right through the metal palm of the robot and scalds the shoulder, forcing the robot to let go of the doll so it can stumble back from the pain. With a moment's reprise now given to him, Geno gives any excess energy back to the barrier and turns around to continue the fight with Galleom before the robot can be allowed any leeway.

He thrusts his left fist out in front of his body and grabs onto the elbow joint with his other hand. All it takes is for him to pull back his arm slightly and the fist is fired off from the rest of the arm. With a rocket in the back propelling it through the air, the fist smashes right into the bottom of Galleom's metal jaw and lifts up to knock the face upward, which in turn causes the robot to stagger back slightly. After a quick loop the fist hits the jaw again, and again and again and again in a continuous rocket loop. Each blow sends the rusting beast one step closer to the edge of Star Road. With one strike left necessary to send the robot packing, Geno is confident in his victory despite the danger the creature's new strength once posed to him.

But instead of taking the blow like he did the others, Galleom suddenly recovers and thrusts its head forward, knocking the fist away into the air without suffering a single scratch from the wood scraping against his forehead slightly. Since his plan seems to have failed the doll quickly comes up with a back-up plan and fires his other fist out while the robot is momentarily distracted. Since there is a slight bit of cool down from his last move, Galleom is unable to defend himself in time and the cold bumps of the knuckles collide right between his eyes and knock the beast backwards, its arms flailing about as the edge of its mechanized heels are barely able to stay level with the illusionary Star Road.

Geno lifts his left arm so the fist he just fired can reattach itself to his arm, his other fist having returned to him just a few seconds earlier. Once Galleom has fallen off and let out one last roar, the star warrior leaves him to his demise and turns towards the orb, where he finds that Alex is fighting all the Primids off effortlessly. Even so, there doesn't seem to an end to them, but what is more perturbing to the doll is that no other types of enemies are being spawned from the Subspace Orb like they were before the robot showed up. Before he can even say or think anything about his concerns, the sound of jet engines can be heard going off in the distance. With a slight turn of the head Geno notices, to his great displeasure, that the mechanical monstrosity is flying back up towards Star Road, a couple of devices near the rim of his glutes allowing him the ability to do so.

"You are stubborn and full of surprises…" The doll dully notes as he turns his body back around and gets his arms ready to fire off a couple of Geno Beams at the brute before he can land on the ground. But instead of doing just that a miniature orb fires out of an open plate on Galleom's left shoulder, the mysterious device going off and releasing a blinding flare that surprisingly forces Geno to shut his eyelids when the light gets into his eyes. This also grabs Alex's attention, and after he uses his fists to punch through five Primids at once he flips his head around and watches as Galleom rushes forward and slams the doll into the barrier once more. This time around though the robot closes his hand into the shape of a fist to not only cause more damage, but to also apply heaps more pressure to the barrier when the star warrior makes contact with it.

"Hold on Geno!" Alex exclaims with urgency, as he blocks a rushing Sword Primids with the heel of his sword and knocks it back with a single thrust. He then performs a backflip to avoid the flames of seven Fire Primids and spins around so he can place one hand on the hat of another Primid and vault off it to get near his sword. With not much time to spare Alex plucks his weapon and performs a spin attack in a nanosecond to remove a swarm of enemies from his sight. When the momentum from his spin has neared its end he tosses his weapon towards the robot, the blade twirling round and round in circles to increase its own speed and thus make it easier to cut its target in two.

The weapon slices right through the wrist of the hand holding Geno against the barrier like butter, the limb sliding right off as the sword turns back around like a boomerang and goes back to its owner, who wields it backhanded upon grabbing it and jabs it through the face of a Primid who was running up behind him. With Geno now free and Galleom without one of its hands, the doll regains his composure with a tilt of the head and immediately afterwards he rushes forward and smashes his right fist into the face of the robot before it can recover from the shock of losing part of its body. The first punch shifts the head to the left, where Geno then follows up with an uppercut with the other fist to force it up in an attempt to forcibly detach it from the neck. The assault is continued when the doll pops his fingers open and sends a barrage of miniature bullets into the holes in the neck that have been revealed by his previous efforts, the delicate wires being pierced by them and the built up electricity being released through the cracks.

But all the while Galleom's split off hand is moving on its own, controlled by a force that cannot be seen or heard in the current vicinity. It floats up in front of the body of its owner and wiggles its way over to the place where the barrier keeping the illusion up is at. A weak spot has been forming in the area where Geno was punched into twice, and all it would take is one more blow for that spot to break open and the rest of the barrier to go with it. So the hand curls its fingers into a fist and twirls itself around, silently spinning into a drill like form for better effect. It thrusts forward, grinding against the indent for only a couple of seconds before it punctures through it, and with it cracks emerge all-around the barrier. The sounds they make as they appear force Geno to stop his no-hold barred assault of Galleom and assess the area, and when he finally is able to notice the damages to the barrier it is far too late for him to do anything to repair them.

Faster than one could perceive the possibility of it happening the barrier bursts and the "shards" fall towards the ground. Alex stops fighting for that very instance, not only because he noticed this occurrence, but because the Primids themselves have stopped moving and are now inciting a weird, monotone sounding chant in unison. Horrified by this turn of events, Geno fails to notice the detached hand making a return trip to its master in order to wrap its fingers around the body of the doll, trapping him completely within the confines of the those cold, mechanical extensions as the left arm of the titanium monster is raised up so the hand can reattached itself to it. Raising the star warrior's trapped body up into the air in triumph, Galleom lets out another one of its signature roars to the rest of its comrades, who in turn raise their arms into the air and move them around to trace out the symbol of their army above themselves while still reciting their chant.

"Geno!" Is all that Alex can exclaim, not caring at all for the actions of the army or the hulking robot at this very moment. But just as he gets ready to charge in and take Galleom down, the Primids become active once more and all rush along the fake Star Road to continue pursuing their desired target, Star Sanctuary. The robot has other plans in mind though, and after slamming Geno against the pathway he roars once more and pumps his fists into the air, the pressure radiating from his body forcing Alex to raise his left arm up and brace his feet to the ground to avoid being pushed back by it. When he recovers from this he swiftly points two fingers out in front of his body. A flaming explosion goes off near the Primids that were getting ready to trample over his friend's fallen body, disintegrating the bodies of most of them and send the rest hurtling into the air away from the battlefield. But the loss of their comrades is not enough to stop the remainder of the swarm, as even more and more Primids join their ranks through the Subspace Orb.

Alex does the best he can to run through this overwhelming mob and cut down those in his way on his path to Geno. When he finally reaches the doll's body he stops for a moment and kneels down to check for any signs of life. He nervously pokes his forehead, whispering to himself the name of his friend to reassure himself that he is alive. It takes a few tries, but inevitably the doll pushes himself up off the ground and gets on his feet, as Alex breathes a sigh of relief and joins him in standing back up. With his sword held beside him the boy looks on at the endless sea of Primids, his mind not even wanting to think about those running behind him, nor does he care about Galleom's looming presence at that moment. "This is insane…What does Tabuu hope to gain from attacking Star Haven?" He asks while holding his left hand out and sending out flurry of icy needles at the enemy.

Geno turns around and raises his arms into the air, using the energy from the stars to send a bombardment of aurora beams out towards the Primids heading to Star Haven, their numbers being cut down immensely while at the same time forcing the advancing Galleom to leap and hover off to the side of Star Road to avoid getting damaged. When the hulking robot passes by off to the left of the two warriors, the doll quickly fires out a Geno Whirl to try and get its head, but the robot knocks it away with the back of its hand like it was a gnat. It is at that point that the doll responds to his friend's question. "He is probably trying to get rid of the Star Rod."

"But how would he even know about that is the real question…" Alex replies, his brain working to come up with answers, none of which end up sounding pleasant to him when he thinks too deeply about them. "None of this feels right…It all seems too organized." Geno replies as he backs up to his allies' back and takes out a few more Primids with his Geno Beams. After swerving his body around to get in front of the doll, Galleom lands down on the empty space that was just made and slams one fist down against the fake Star Road and glares down at both of his targets. "I'd go into one of my element forms right now so I can have a better chance of clearing the crowds, but I REALLY doubt that Mr. Warmonger behind me is going to give me a chance to do so…I really wish we could get into contact with the others for back-up, but they have their own battles to fight right now so it just wouldn't be right of us…"

"We can't give in Alex. No matter the odds I will not let these heathens place a single hand on my home!" With Geno's declaration he leaps into the air and smashes Galleom in the jaw with an uppercut, essentially paying him back for slamming him into the ground just a few moments ago. The mechanized beast's body stumbles back with the arms flailing about as he is soon forced on one leg to keep himself balanced. The doll follows up by firing his left fist out to punch right through the center of the beast's chest, the rocket propelling hand colliding with the back and knocking the titan to the ground, where his lumbering limbs take out a few of his comrades after he falls.

Geno swiftly flies down and reattaches his hand mid-flight; landing in front of the robot's newly formed hole and pointing both his cannon arms down towards the hole. "Time for you stay down!" The doll proclaims as the energy slowly charges in the barrels. The two beams that fire out burn through the wires and gears revealed in the hole and actually punctures holes through the fake Star Road in the process. For good measure, the doll shifts his hands around and fires a couple more beams out to melt down more of the robot's insides. When he is done with that he quickly jumps up and angrily glares at the foolish Primids running around him. He raises his arms above his head and gathers the star energy around him into a more compressed form, a glowing blue orb sparking any excess energy out until Geno is able to keep it perfectly together and has caused it to expand to about four times the size of himself.

"Neo Geno Bomb!" With his attack called out with an incredible amount of bravado, the doll thrusts both his arms out to send the attack hurtling towards the center of the swarm. The gravitational pull surrounding the orb drags in and annihilates many Primids before it even makes contact with the ground. When it finally does reach that point though a massive, sparkling explosion goes off, the heat of the attack magnified just by being in the vicinity of Star Haven and melting away the skins of the Primids and destroying the Shadow Bugs that allowed them to exist in the first place. But nothing Geno can do will even make the Primids consider stopping, as they continue their charge towards Star Haven.

"This is really starting to get ridiculous…" Geno notes as he flies to a position a few feet ahead of him and gets ready to fire a couple more Geno Beams at the swarm. But unbeknownst to him, the damaged parts of Galleom's body are reforming themselves, the titanium beast rising to its feet and turning to face the unsuspecting doll as his the hole in his chest finally seals up. The robot makes the unconscious mistake though of letting out its roar, which alerts Geno to his presence before he can strike him. So once he has used his beams he turns around and an annoyed scowl appears on his face, the emphasize on his current emotions being placed on the slanted eyebrows of his. "And you really aren't helping…"

The doll quickly brandishes his right arm out beside himself and summons a saw blade energy disc between the fingers. "What is it going to take to put you down?" He then thinks to himself, his mind starting to run out of ideas as nearly every attack he has thrown at the creature seems to have done nothing but stall its advance. In the meantime, Alex is still fighting valiantly against the Subspace Army, his sword still gripped tightly in his right hand as he cuts a swathe of destruction through hundreds upon hundreds of Primids with no visible signs of exhaustion. "I won't let any of you reach Star Haven…" He says as he stops momentarily and snaps his fingers to the left, summoning forth a few vines to strangle the life out of some Primids while then proceeding to bend his body forward and slamming his palm against the ground to create a medium sized gale that blows most of the Primids surrounding the circumference of his body off the fake pathway. "If it wasn't for them, if it wasn't for everyone else on the planet I wouldn't even be alive right now…So if you want to destroy them you'll have to force me onto my knees against my will first!"

"Well said Alex…But you wouldn't mind if we lent some assistance to your cause, right?" Hearing a familiar voice calling to him from within the Subspace Orb, the boy looks up and sees two glints of light appear briefly in the center. This is followed up by a series of plasma bolts being fired to the left and right of him simultaneously, each shot going higher and higher up the fake Star Road until it stops just before the entrance to Star Haven. All the Primids in range of the shots are instantly blown to shreds by their individual might, and before Alex can even take a moment to take all this in he looks in front of him to see the two-sided wheeled being known as Nexus Duon emerging from the phenomenon, with the esteemed Commander Alpha riding on top of it with his arms folded behind his winged back. He stands completely unfazed by his travels through the realm of Subspace, as an invisible barrier has kept himself safe from harm during the entire journey.

"Alpha? Boy, am I glad to see you…But, what are you doing here? And is…Is that Duon?" While the young Overlord has many questions to ask the Goomba, the Commander merely commands his two-headed steed forward, traveling along the Star Road until he is right beside the boy. It is then that he turns his head to the right and looks down upon him, his eyes brimming with joy. "I entered the Subspace Orb and looked around for any signs of activity that would lead me to one of our other factions. The swarms of Primids clued me in to this location, so here I am…As for this beauty of a machine, well…That's a story for another time, cause we got company." Just as quickly as they were destroyed some more Primids come out of the orb behind them, and the blue side of Duon is commanded by Alpha to cut them down with the blade arms. The side complies, slashing them out in front of them and carving two wind blades through the air that slice down rows of enemies and clearing a path to Subspace Orb.

"Look Alex, we don't really have any time to talk right now. I want you to take this, quickly!" Alpha pops a small round device out of his left shoulder and grabs it in the palm of his other hand, turning around and flinging it down for the boy to grab. When he does this he looks at it for a moment and wonders just what its purpose is. "I didn't have much time, but I used some of the parts from Duon here to craft that for you. Once you get into Subspace all you need to do is press the silver button on the top and you'll be able to track down the one responsible for this whole mess…" "Haha! This is excellent news, thanks for doing this Alpha!" Alex says excitedly. "Not a problem. Now go on, get to it before we run out of time!" Replying with a nod of the head, the young Overlord turns around and bravely dashes into the Subspace Orb, leaving Geno and Alpha on Duon behind to fight Galleom and the droves of Primids.

"Alright then…Duon is your name then? Come on then Duon, let us get to work!" Alpha brandishes his right arm in front of himself, pointing one finger at the continuing fight between Geno and Galleom so the two-headed robot charges forward to join them. Midway between the two points, Duon spins around so the blue-side takes center point. Right before they arrive at their destination the titanium beast turns around to notice the existence of his "brother", but only gets a left hook in the face as per Alpha's command. The attack is followed up with Duon raising its other arm into the air and bringing it down on top of Galleom's head to pound towards the ground, where he then continues the assault by pressing the tip of that very arm into the robot's back and spinning it around to drill through the metallic layer. Alpha then commands Duon to pull back and wait for his opponent to get back up before continuing. In this span of time Geno floats over beside the Commander and folds his arms in front of his chest, a smile appearing across his usually stoic face. "You sure like to show up in the nick of time, don't you?" He says with a bit of sarcasm. "I must admit that it is one of my more admirable traits, but the time for thanks and compliments can come later. I'm just kind of surprised that you haven't dealt with this monstrosity already…" "There have been some difficulties…This thing is simply stubborn to a fault." Alpha gets a confident grin on his face and cracks his knuckles in front of his body, while Duon grinds the sharp edges of his blades together. "Well then what say you and I do something about that?" Thus the two heroes of Plit prepare to continue the battle to defend Star Haven….


	5. Two Plumbers and a Prince

There is still one side of the battle to be told before we delve into Alex's journey through the vast, blackened depths of Subspace. The Mario Bros., having been teleported back to Toad Town with E. Gadd's assistance, have already spread out across the kingdom to alert the residents of the coming phenomena. Mario first heads to Peach's Castle to gain the Princess' help in evacuating the grounds, while Luigi diverges to the docks, just to make sure and see if any boats were coming in soon. That way, if worse comes to worse they would know to draw the Subspace Army's attention away from there while the passengers scurried off. It takes fifteen minutes in total for the two brothers to succeed, but eventually the citizens have fled Toad Town, the Princess and her loyal retainer Toadsworth following shortly behind after giving the brothers their blessing.

Upon returning to the center of town, they find the Nimbusian Prince Mallow waiting for them, his bus leaving the area only a second before their arrival. As the trail of puffy clouds left behind in the vehicle's wake fades away into the sky, Mallow turns his head to the left and gives his two friends a nod. Seeing as he hadn't heard from them over the last few months, he had plenty he wanted to tell them. But duty takes priority over catching up on life events, so he takes out his signature spell staff and holds it upright beside his waist, tilting his eyebrows downward and curls his lips into a rather upset frown. "So is everyone gone?" He asks as a way to break the ice and better learn the set-up of the battlefield.

"Yep. They've retreated into the nearby hillside, in a bunker that Peach's ancestors made for such apocalyptic occasions." Luigi replies, his hands clapping together to get rid of any dust that could interfere with his Thunderhand powers. "And what about your people?" "They are ready to stay and fight should any orbs appear near them. So how much longer do we got until the orb appears around here?" "We don't know, unfortunately." Mario says, his body turned towards Peach's Castle with his arms folded in front of his chest and an air of anger loaming precariously around his body. "You look tense bro. What is on your mind?" The man in green asks, tilting his head out in front of him and keeping one eyebrow raised as he gives his brother a nice long stare. Mario clenches his fist, a golden glow surrounding his body as a ring of light appears around his feet and a pillar of starlight falls down upon him. In a moment that would be impossible to capture in your mind no matter how sharp your reflexes were, the visages of the Star Spirits appear around the pillar, and once they have dispelled the plumber now floats slightly off the ground with his appearance altered quite a bit. The red on his clothes has been replaced with gold, and the blue has become a boney tint of white. A cape has also become attached to his back, his eyes now yellow in color to reflect the origin of which his new form came from.

"The orb is going to appear before us. Even so, I'm not going to let the Subspace Army sneak around it and harm the Castle in any way. I let Bowser do harm to it once, and I won't let anyone with evil intentions mar its image ever again!" Holding his right fist in front of his chest, Luigi and Mallow find themselves motivated by their brother/friend's words and promptly decide to do the same thing that he himself just did. With two flashes of light they change appearances. The man in green's clothes' colors change to match what his brother wears, while Mallow gets a hat on his head similar to what you would see a Pope wear, his staff becoming golden with a jeweled tip. When the transformation is complete, Luigi hovers above the ground beside his brother, looking onward in wait for the inevitable battle to commence.

"We have shared a lot of fond memories in that place, haven't we bro?" When the question has been asked, Mario responds with a simple nod, his eyes not budging to look at his brother. "From our humble beginnings to our present glory and eventually our final hour, we have and will continue to defend this kingdom Luigi. Whether that was decided as our birthright or something that we brought upon ourselves without even knowing it, nothing will change what we have chosen to do." "Well said Mario." Mallow responds, complimenting his friend for his little speech as he uses a spell to create a cloud below his feet and thus make himself capable of floating around the battlefield to cast spells at an easier rate.

The hairs on the back of Mario's head starts twitching, his body sensing a change in the area's air pressure as if something was getting ready to be dragged in. In between the blue gateway with the Star on it and the Castle itself, the Subspace Orb is beginning to emerge. Its size increases, expanding outward exponentially until eventually the heroes have to float back to avoid getting sucked in. Once it has reached its full size its edge just barely manages to reach the Castle, but nothing gets sucked in from it, not even the front doors across the small stone bridge. The orb is substantially bigger than all others summoned before it, which makes sense when one considers that this is the centerpiece of the symbol that Tabuu has created with them.

An unholy chill passes through the air in the aftermath of the phenomena's creation, the capes of the heroes ruffling back as the owner's themselves prepare for the approaching enemies. To no one's surprise the first wave sent out is a group of Primids, their purpose being to scout the area for signs of life to snuff out for their master. But they don't even get a foot out of the orb before both Mario Bros. rocket downwards and slam their feet down to decimate two of the soldiers. The remaining seven step back once in surprise, but before they can retreat and get reinforcements themselves their bodies are swiftly incinerated by a spread of lightning bolts cast from Mallow's staff.

The "Shadow Bugs" that remain though are able to return safe and sound without detection, which in turn is followed up by a new set of enemies coming out to fight the heroes. The Mario Bros. lift their legs off the ground and float back to allow enough room for their attacks so they also don't delve into the Subspace Orb accidentally in the process. The typical Shadow Auroros seen in the assaults on the other areas fly out and head towards Mallow, their wings flapping viciously as a swarm of full-sized Neo Nagagogs shoulder charge out towards the Mario Bros. With their hands at the ready, Mario blocks one charge without exerting any effort and latches his fingers around the arm, giving it a light tug to rip it clean off and reveal the hole from which "Shadow Bugs" start to drip out from. The plumber moves forward and inch and places his palm into that gap, giving the enemy only a second to flinch as he blasts his insides with golden fire, setting both the dark purple specks and the skin of Nagagog ablaze with no hope of survival.

With his job done Mario pulls his arm back and retreats to where he once floated, lifting himself upward as another Neo Nagagog charges through the charred remains of his companion to try and get to him. But all it takes is an effortlessly tossed flicked fireball behind the plumber's shoulder for the creature to suffer the same fate as the one before it. No, Mario couldn't ever acknowledge something like that as a living thing. It was a puppet, a puppet whose only purpose is to follow Tabuu's every whim and cause wanton destruction. So with that thought buried in the recesses of his mind, the plumber looks down and sees some new yet familiar enemies coming out of the orb.

They have a cloud-like appearance, their bodies surrounded by few conductor rods and an electric battery on their backs. They also have wires-Mario spent little time in focusing on the details of their appearances. He rushed forward, his left fist flaring up in the fire he is most comfortable with as he jammed it into the face of the first "Spaak" in his line of sight. The creature's cloud automatically becomes black from the damage it takes, the eyes glimmering as a powerful electric veil surrounds its body. But it mattered little to the plumber, as he took his other open free hand and slammed it into his enemies' face to send it spiraling back into the orb it came from.

With one "obstacle" out of the way, Mario turns himself around just in time to kick away a lightning orb fired at him by another "Spaak", the compacted energy fizzling apart in the distance without a single eye focusing on its appearance soon afterwards. Angered by this, the "Spaak" turns black like its previous companion and does a completely vertical flip, sending a violent blue lightning bolt streaking down at Mario. The plumber gracefully moves to the left, a trace of his movements being left in the air as the attack passes through them and mercilessly fries another "Spaak" to a crisp, the "Shadow Bugs" left behind going over the to the first "Spaak" and merging with it to increase its power. At the same time, the remains of the other "Spaak" follows suite, all three merging together in a maelstrom of dark speckled electricity the likes of which causes even Mario in his current state to raise an eyebrow out of worry.

When the process has been finished and the energy has died down to a certain point, what remains is an incomplete abomination. The bodies of the three "Spaaks" have fused together at the ends, their batteries becoming interconnected by a series of tangled up, burned out wires. The eyes look glazed, their minds clearly having gone blank once the fusion process had finalized. But that is because they have entered a period of zen, their minds literally having become one with the energy they once produced from their bodies. With this newly discovered power, static build-up from the batteries emerges in the form of a phantasm. The middle battery unleashes something resembling a genie you'd find in the fondest of fairy tales, the creature's thin, almost vase-like belly is topped by its completely square pecs and a small, rounded face with two glowing eyes of crimson clashing against its light-purple frame. From the other two batteries emerge puffy, cloud-like hands, which stay connected to three thin streams of electricity and float away from the main body.

**The Broken Fuse(d) Genie: Shock-Gra-La**

"Luigi would be better suited for an opponent such as this…" Mario laments as he prepares a golden fireball in his left hand to fire out at his new opponent, one eye pointed to the left as he notices more "Spaaks" emerging from the orb to go cause havoc across the deserted Toad Town. With that factor in mind the plumber wants to also make sure that he can take out any other airborne enemies in the process of battling this tri-bodied entity. So first off he thrusts his arm out to send his fireball hurtling at the enemy, a crackling streak being left behind in its wake as it prepares to collide with the face of the target. Mario then turns around and charges at one of the "Spaaks", spinning his body around into a curled ball shape to increase the damage of his attack to the point that it'll one-shot his target without the black cloak activating.

When this is successful on the first enemy the plumber uncurls after the rebound and finds himself a few feet higher into the air, where he immediately raises both of his hands up and grabs them together, slamming them both down onto the head of the next "Spaak" to dunk it straight into the ground, where its body bends out of alignment before it disintegrates into "Shadow Bugs". While Mario is dealing with all this, the attack he originally fired off at the "Genie" passed right through the gap between its eyes, dealing no damage whatsoever. But instead of reacting with a violent counterattack, the electrical phantasm takes its hands and connects the thumb and pointer finger together to form an "O", the other fingers hanging out as the arms fold gently in front of its gut. With its eyes closed and a buzzing sound still lingering around its body, the pose the "Genie" now has is akin of a sort of techno Buddha statue.

The creature appears to be waiting for something, no obvious hints being shown in both its position and the unnaturally calm aura floating around its body. Upon dispatching of a few more "Spaaks" and finding it perplexing that his other enemy hasn't attacked him yet, Mario turns around and takes note of its current pose. With a positive assumption that the creature is preparing a wide-spread, devastating attack to cleanse the town of all structures, the plumber goes on the offensive, and as swift as the wind he flies forward and prepares a fireball in each of his hands. With no signs of visible damage in the area where his first attack was aimed at, the plumber gets a curious yet serious expression on his face as he deduces an answer and decides that he wants to test something out before he does anything else.

He tosses out one fireball aimed at the body of the "Genie", the speeds of which it moves at being faster than the previous shot in accordance with the velocity of his own movements. It passes through, just as Mario expected it would. So he shifts his body weight a bit to the right so his next shot will be aimed at a new target, the batteries from which the electric comes out from. With another flick of the wrist the fireball rockets towards its destination. But faster than the hero of the Mushroom Kingdom could react to, a lone "Spaak" speeds in front of the attacks path, taking the blow for what was the intended target and "dying" because of it.

Skidding to a stop by spinning his body around and pressing his feet against the air, Mario is greatly confused by what just happened even though is occurred before his very eyes. "Why did that other Spaak defend it?" Is the first question that pops into his mind, a variety of possibilities circulating through it not a moment after. "So this thing holds more significance than I originally thought…But what could it be?" The next thing the plumber tries to do as he turns around and delicately plucks his cape off to give it a swing to deflect an orb coming from another "Spaak", is to think about Tabuu's motivations. "Why would he target Toad Town? There's no way he could've found out that this is the place we defend the most…But at the same time he put the centerpiece of his army's 'symbol' here, which leads me to believe that there is a reason for that, but what could it be, and how do I stop the problem before it can happen?" As all these problems plagued Mario's thoughts, he continued to effortlessly deal with the droves and droves of "Spaaks" that came his way…

We shall go back in time for a moment, to see how the man in green has been faring as the previous events unfolded for his brother. The first thing that came his way was a Neo Nagagog performing a shoulder charge, unlike the brutal approach his brother took with his, Luigi simply swerves his body around to the front of the creature and delivers a powerful punch to its gut, breaking its momentum and sending it hurtling away, its body being battered against the ground until it can no longer support its own structure and thus dissolves into "Shadow Bugs". An electric powered backhand from the man in green only a moment afterwards dispatches of the second Nagagog. So he then turns around and notices a stampede of Shellpods coming out Subspace Orb.

"Sigh…" He murmurs, his hand carefully rubbing the back of his head as he quickly realizes that it is up to him to deal with all of them since both Mario and Mallow appear to be pre-occupied with other affairs. So the first thing to do is to spin around so his body is pointed downward and plummet towards the closest Shellopod. With a fist surrounded by electricity he breaks through the shell of the creature with one blow and makes contact with the delicate insides, the energy surging through the "bloodstream" and making the "organs" spasm until the creature itself explodes into "Shadow Bugs" and allows Luigi to continue downward until he hit's the ground and sends out a net of electricity around himself that circulates through the ground and trickles up the vulnerable feet of the Shellopods, doling out to them the exact same voltage punishment that the first one had to endure. After the "Shadow Bugs" that remain have dispatched back to the subspace Orb, Luigi lifts his head up slightly to look out for more enemies from beyond the view of the front side of his cap.

Coming out from the orb is a bunch of orb-shaped enemies with bulging dark-red eyes strapped to the front of their neon upper-halves. The white bottom halves are each marked with wide, fanged grins (Rainbow Bytans). With hundreds upon hundreds charging along through the town, they make miniature leaps as they move, the combined force of their weight sending tremors through the ground. A good comparison to these vibrations would be to those set off by a herd of rampaging bulls. Luigi sighed again as he stood up fully, but a quick thought makes him realize how easy this will be for him to deal with. "One hit each should be enough…"

After cracking his knuckles the man in green charges headfirst into the stampeding Bytans, a swing of his left fist knocking away a couple of them with incredible ease. As somersaults forward and presses his hands against the ground, using his momentum to swing his feet to the front of his body and kick all the Bytans surrounding him with a breakdance-like move. He continues to do a variety of techniques, some connected to others in a chain to mix things up as he cuts a swath through the swarm without breaking so much as a sweat. He isn't even really putting all of his attention into this "battle", instead he tries to think about his prior experience with the Subspace Army.

"I don't really remember much about the previous encounter…I was stuck as a trophy most of the time, only getting into the fight itself once everyone else had been turned into trophies thanks to Tabuu's Off-Waves and that Dedede guy's badges turned me and another guy back into our living selves. We then ventured into Subspace and freed everyone we could be touching their trophy stands…But do those rules apply now that we aren't in that strange realm? Let us say me and Mario go into Subspace and confront Tabuu…If he wishes his Off-Waves on us again, will it turn us into Trophies, or rip us to shreds? I got to be brave here, we all have to fight our best or lose what we love…Daisy, this one is for you."

Luigi grinds the heels of his feet against the ground to stop in place, both his fists supercharging with electricity as the ground trembles even more in the face of the power stored within him. He pulls his hands back, the sparks becoming golden as he gets ready to thrust his limbs down onto the ground. When both strikes come down, the motion is as swift as an artist taking a swipe of their paintbrush against a canvas. The attack's name is not even whispered by the man in green, and before long the results of his efforts is revealed. Crashing down from the dark clouds that have taken hold over the town are twenty gigantic lightning bolts, ten for each hand. The area they all cover is so broad, that not a single Bytan escapes being annihilated by their combined, piercing might. A shield created automatically by the Thunderhand's power protects Luigi from his own barrage, and he guides his energy to avoid the incineration of any of the households. This display of power is noticed by the refuges of Toad Town from afar, and the incredible part is that the man in green held back in his attack. But that's because he didn't need to use his full power against simple mooks that would be easily bested in his weakest form.

With the smoke from his attack's aftermath fading away, the droves and droves of "Shadow Bugs" become visible, all of them combining together in front of Luigi's body in order to form another creature to combat their foe. Molding in a spherical shape, the new creature that appears is a Bytan with a bottom side that alone dwarves both other member of its kind and even the "Genie" that Mario is fighting. Its eye has become pitch black, the pupil replaced with a blank white void into nothingness. Though the same grin is kept on its face, when the giant creature rolls forward slightly to look down at the now miniscule to it Luigi it thrusts its teeth open, revealing an incredibly fleshy expanse where hundreds of other mouths reside, each one biting down ready to devour the entrails of their target. The man in green merely nudges his cap forward and takes one foot back behind him, his cape swaying in the breeze as he preps the Thunderhand in both of his open palms.

**The Hungering Glitch Devourer: Giga-Bytan**

Because of the size of the beast, a ground offensive is clearly out of the question for Luigi, so he swiftly raises his altitude so he is on eye level with the titan, jabbing his left pointer finger out in front of his body and firing a bolt to target the vulnerable membrane while it is taking a moment to lock-on to him. But to his surprise the attack is sucked in through the pupil, as is the second shot he fires a second after raising his eyebrows in shock. Thinking that small attacks will do little to even flinch the creature this time around, the man in green combines both of his hands together and thrusts the pointer fingers out, energy gathering at the tips before he fires out a gigantic golden electricity beam with a rounded front.

Even this is absorbed through the beast's pupil though, but unlike the other two attacks this is sent right back at its owner with its size now tripled. Luigi narrowly avoids this reflected attack with only the edge of his cape being singed by it. Then he gets to thinking about the purpose of the white pupil, his hand rubbing against the bottom of his chin as he flies circle around the massive creature in order to prevent it from charging forward and tearing up the ground around it. "What can I do about his eye…Let me think here. Ah, I got it! The reason my attacks aren't working is because they have color to them! White is meant to represent nothingness, a blank slate as one would always say…You need color to change its meaning, so that must also hold true for the eye as it is now! It was able to absorb my attacks because they had a color other than white in them!"

So upon realizing the logical course of action, the man in green rushes forward with his white right glove held tightly into the shape of a fist and thrusts it out, punching the pupil with so much force put into the blow that even with the creature's incredible girth even it is knocked back a few inches. Luigi follows up with two more swift blows from both of his arms, and with a double palm thrust that finally renders the Bytan blind he is able to make certain that the next move he makes won't be either noticed or countered. With the titanic creature stumbling back and flinching sporadically, the man in green knew it was only a matter of time before it would start moving from its location. If that would be allowed to happen, the tremors it would cause would probably be upgraded to plate-rupturing earthquakes, which is something he can't allow to come to fruition.

Luigi quickly flies down to the bottom of the titanic ball monster and presses both of his hands against its underside, using all of his might to lift it off the ground just a moment before the creature was about ready to move from its location. Pressing his feet against the ground and moving himself forward so he can reach the center of the creature, the man in green swiftly estimates that he is currently carrying something that weighs fifty tons, and he has yet to break a sweat as he starts to lift his body up to raise the creature high above his shoulder. When he finally gets to knock the ball into the air, the man in green isn't getting ready to serve up a spike when he charges his right fist with electricity. No, the heat from the Thunderhand's energy becomes so intense that it goes from being golden in color to a seething white form, whose out-of-control releases of energy ends up burning holes through the ground before he rockets up into the air to finish his opponent off.

With a ring of dust left behind by his sudden acceleration, Luigi reaches top speed in only two seconds, a trail of sparks being left in his wake as he inches closer to his target. When the final moment comes and the fist slams right through the plastic skin of the creature, the roar of thunder that follows up that mighty blow would be the loudest ever recorded in the history of the Kingdom, followed up by a searing white and crimson lightning bolt that breaks through the very sky itself to tear apart its summoner's desires victim. The poor Bytan is hit with the full force of the incalculable amount of voltage stored in the godly bolt, the brunt of it not even flinching Luigi thanks to the protection granted to him by the Star Spirit's power-up. Needless to say though that there was no way to avoid damaging the environment around them this time, since the attack seeps through the body of the creature and melts through the ground below.

But the main purpose of the attack is fulfilled, and when the remainder of the bolt's energy continues to fall into the planet the man in green pulls his fist out of the charred hole and flies away to get a full view of the creature as its foaming mouth slowly vanishes along with the rest of its body once it begins to go back to being the "Shadow Bugs" it once was made out of. In a twist of things though, the demonic specks don't even make it an inch away from their position before an aftereffect of the attack kicks in and the energy sparks in the sky through the path of the bolt, frying the "Shadow Bugs" into nothingness and leaving Luigi satisfied over the fact that he won't have to deal with another giant enemy anytime soon. As he pulls the front of his cap in front of his eyes, he looks down and notices the hole he made. With a shrug of the shoulders the man in green notices Mario's situation and decides to fly over to help him, remarking nonchalantly to himself that "He'll have Alex patch the hole up after everything has ended."

When Mario and Luigi reunite, they are soon joined by Mallow, who is riding a smaller cloud after the previous one took damage in battle. "Man, those ghostly enemies sure are a pain to deal with…" The cloud Prince notes while rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. Mario is looking on at the "Genie", who still remains motionless even to this very moment. "What the heck is that bro?" Luigi asks out of curiosity. "Don't know. It hasn't done ANYTHING since it appeared except to go into that pose. I've tried to attack it, but every time a Spaak gets in the way and blocks the blow. Actually, speaking of enemies…" The plumber turns his head around and notices how calm the atmosphere around them currently is.

"Haven't you guys noticed that no more members of the Subspace Army have shown up in the past couple of minutes?" "Come to think about it, that is pretty suspicious…" Mallow replies as he too looks around him. "Do you think Alex or someone else took care of Tabuu already?" Luigi asks his brother. "No, the Subspace Orb is still up, as is that enemy." Mario responds, shaking his head as an uneasy chill begins to crawl up his spine. There is a whisper from the wind, as the "Genie" begins to move its arms away from where they were and opens its eyes. Before it can do anything else it dissolves into "Shadow Bugs" and follows a heavy stream of them that lie in the air back through the top of the Subspace Orb. The heroes keep their eyes on the trail, but as they look at the orb they feel the air around them tremble slightly.

"What the heck?" Luigi says, as the air pressure also begins to increase and a strong, evil presence can be felt within the phenomena. "It couldn't be…Tabuu, could it?" The man in green then inquires as he floats back slightly, ready to escape. "No, don't worry about it. He can't leave Subspace, remember? That's why he used the R.O.B.s to create the Subspace Bombs." "So what is it then?" Mallow would soon regret asking that question, for the creature reveals itself through the depths of the phenomena. A big, hulking, scaly claw cuts through the front of the Subspace Orb, its massive girth breaking apart the ground when it finally lands.

The other claw breaks through not a moment afterwards, followed by the long snout of a truly gargantuan yet mystical beast. It is a dragon, and from a look at them one of its nails alone dwarves the shroom-ish houses in the town. It takes but a couple more seconds for the rest of the face to come through the orb. With this, one can tell that the dragon is taking on the appearance of something out of an old Chinese legend, with its elongated face having two long, curved whiskers attached to the sides of snout that stretch out to the front of its neck. Its eyes show no emotion, the perfectly blank irises looking only forward, never once straying from its guided path as it lifts each claw forward to continue on its way. The scales of this mighty beast bear the same coloring seen in the orb, and a ghastly black aura radiates off the top of its body. All the while smog emerges from its nostrils, and a deep growl beckons its soon to be arrival into the land.

**One Roar to End the World: ?**

"That thing is huge!" Mallow exclaims in fear, all the while he grips his staff tightly with both hands and holds it horizontally in front of his chest. As the dragon continues to inch closer out of the orb and the rest of its appearance becomes clearer, the intensity of the vibrations increase bit by bit, as if the whole planet was teetering on the edge of a breakdown. "Whatever it is, we don't have any time to ask questions! Hit it with everything we got!" Mario declares as he presses the bottom of his palms in front of his face as the gloves are swiftly ignited with golden flames and he pulls his arms behind himself, their positions being pointed in the opposite directions than what they were before. Luigi does something similar, only he scrapes the bottom of his gloves together to create a spark that eventually expands into a crackling electric orb that is roughly the size of his head. He then grabs his hands together and molds them into the shape of a fist before raising it high above his head that is now stretched backwards. Mallow uses his powers to keep his staff afloat above his head, the mystical gem at the tip spinning the rod around and around in a complete circle as many times as necessary while its own performs a chant and the cloud he is on becomes surrounded with a shining yellow glow.

When the preparations for all of their attacks have been made, they unleashed them on the creature post-haste. Mario thrusts his arms in front of his body to send a spiraling golden flame attack that consists of two giant fireballs alternating between going up and down as they spin. Luigi brings his combined fist down to scrape against the back of the orb with his knuckles, which quintuples its size thanks to the effects of static electricity and finally sends the orb itself hurtling at the head of the dragon. Mallows thrusts his hands up and plucks his staff out of orbit, brandishes the gem towards the ground to open a hole in the sky that calls forth a huge, white flaming Power Star to plummet down at his desires target. All the attacks move through the air in sync, the hulking dragon unaware of their existence until they finally connect with its face.

The ensuing brightly colored explosion forces the heroes to cover their eyes to avoid being blinded, but when they finally pull their arms away to see the damage they brought to the creature, they are set aback by the fact that the dragon is entirely unharmed. Even worse, it didn't even care that the attacks hit it, a fact made obvious by its continuing advance. "What the heck, we didn't even phase the thing?" Mallows says in utter disbelief. "This isn't good, how could our strongest attacks fail to do a thing?" Luigi adds on, his face stiff with fear. Before any answers could be provided though, the most unexpected thing comes to pass. From out of nowhere a few cannonballs pelt the dragon in the face, exploding upon making contact and actually making the mystical creature flinch.

Shocked by this sudden attack, the heroes turn to the left to find the one person they least expected to assist them in their time of need. Riding in on his own personal Clown Copter with eight of his Doomships and the Magikoopas Kamek and Kammy on their brooms behind him is the grand Koopa King, Bowser. He drives his vehicle over so he is front of the now turned heroes, his arms resting on the green lips as he lets out his signature "Bwahahahaha!". "Bowser!" The group declares their surprise in unison, as the Koopa King merely turns his Copter around and activates a platform on it that lifts his body up so his full might can be on display for the heroes. But he is not here to cause trouble, instead he turns towards the dragon and folds his arms in front of his chest, his head held up high as a grin adorns his face.

"So Tabuu decided to show his face again by trying to invade MY kingdom huh? The nerve of that blue guy, who does he think he is?" He nudges his head slightly towards the heroes, his right eyes glancing at them while the other notices how the dragon has diverted its attention to the Doomships. "I don't have much time to talk, but I guess I've never been one for needless conversation anyways so whatever…Mario, Luigi, you need to get into the orb and kick Tabuu to the curb! The kids, old hags and I will keep this dragon at bay while you take care of business! This isn't a request, it's a demand you two! Now go before that tub of lard blocks the way!" After letting out a massive roar, the Mario Bros. give each other a nod before complying to Bowser's plan and flying downward to swoop past the face of the dragon and head right into the Subspace Orb.

Mallow is just about ready to join them when the Koopa King holds one claw up to block his path. "Huh?" The cloud Prince looks up as his temporary ally folds that arms back into his chest. "I know you want to, but Mario and Luigi are two of the few people in this world who can enter Subspace since they were involved in the first incident and thus were already exposed to the realm. You on the other hand wouldn't survive very long, even with the Star Spirit's protection. So it would be best for you two stay with us and use your spells to distract the dragon and heal us if we get wounded. I know it probably isn't the role you wanted to have in this battle Mallow, but it is certainly better than dying…"

"Bowser…" Mallow says, surprised immensely by the Koopa King's caring tone and gentle demeanor. "I'm not afraid to admit this so long as you promise not to tell anyone about it later…But, I consider you to be one of the few heroes on this planet that I can actually respect….There, got that off my chest, now I don't want to hear people calling ol' Bowser a softy, you got it?" Returning to his fierce tone of voice almost instantly, Mallow lets out a giggle and swipes his staff out to the side of his body ready to continue the fight. "You have my word Bowser!" "Good! Now if you'll excuse me…"

The Koopa King lowers his Clown Copter so he is only a few yards away from the head of the dragon, which is turned towards the Doomships as it opens its mouth up wide and fires a massive flamethrower that is colored the same as its aura. The aerial vehicles manage to avoid the attack and fire some cannonballs in response, but the dragon fires lasers from its eyes that destroy them before they can even reach the halfway point. "Hey listen here you lumbering waste of space! Maybe you haven't heard the word on the street, but you are trespassing on what shall inevitably be King Bowser's domain! So if you don't want your whiskers dislocated from the rest of your face, I suggest you give up, turn tail, and tell your master Tabuu that he is next!" The mystical beast pays the boisterous Bowser any heed, and in response he merely shrugs his shoulders and rolls his eyes around. "Alright, have it your way…" He then leaps off of his Clown Copter and turns his body around so his bottom is aimed at the area near the tip of the beast's snout. Applying all of his weight into his body, gravity takes hold and his body skyrockets downward. The sheer force of his blow with the dragon forces his face to the ground; a cloud of dust being sent up as the sounds of bones in the creature's face cracking fills the skies…


	6. Lord of Subspace

And now the two tales shall intertwine in the depths of the realm of the Subspace. As we catch up to Alex Whiter, he is running across an orange, glossed floor that has been shattered apart in multiple places and the bits drift out into the desolate void beyond. "Geez, just my luck that I end up in the deteriorated part of Subspace…But the device Alpha gave me is telling me to keep running this way, so it's not like I can exactly exercise caution…" The realm around him is just as he expected it to be. The air is thick with smoke that has a texture similar to that of the "Shadow Bugs", and what can only be described as the sky pulsates with darkened colors, a few curved pillars filled to the brim with negative energy swirling around in the background as the young Overlord runs his course.

"Hmm?" Sensing a familiar energy source radiating from afar, the boy puts his feet forward and grinds to a halt. At first his reaction is normal, but after a few seconds a chill goes down his spine and his pupils shrink in fear. He knew who this energy belonged to, this suffocating darkness was familiar to him in more ways than one. There is a cold sweat drop trickling down the side of his face as he tries his hardest not to recall the person responsible for such painful memories. "It couldn't be…This is certain h-" His thoughts are swiftly interrupted when he sees a certain pair of figures running across the realm ahead of him. Leaping into the air to enter flight and catch up to them, he eventually succeeds in his immediate goal and slows himself down to keep up with their pace. "Mario, Luigi, this is certainly a pleasant surprise!" He says to the at the time unaware Mario Bros. With their nerves tightened in anticipation for a surprise attack, Mario quickly turns around and accidentally thrusts his fist into Alex's face, knocking the young Overlord out of the air and sending him tumbling along the ground for a few seconds before friction forces him to stop. The Mario Bros. continue on their way for a few feet before Mario comes to the sudden realization of just who he hit and grinds to a halt, looking onward in an awkward manner with his facial features sagging.

"Oh…" With that one word uttered to show disappointment in himself for his mistake, Mario turns around and runs over to where Alex is at as the boy pushes himself off the ground and gets back on his feet. He rubs the side of his jaw where the plumber struck him and cricks his neck to the left. It was a powerful blow, but despite some damage to the bone structure he seemed to be ok. "Sorry about that Alex, thought you were an enemy there. You alright?" Showing genuine concern for his friend's health, the young Overlord responds with a steady nod, and then Luigi runs over and asks the same question, netting him the exact same response from the boy soon afterwards. "I'm surprised to see you here Alex. I thought you were helping Geno defend Star Haven?" Mario inquires.

"I was, but then Alpha came in riding Duon and sent me in here to deal with Tabuu. He gave me a device that is meant to track his location for me to better seek him out." Holding said device up in front of him, Mario is at the moment thinking about the first part of the boy's sentence. "Alpha took control of Duon? …Why does that worry me more than anything else?" "So what about you guys?" The young Overlord ponders as he retracts the device and rubs the bottom of his chin with his other free hand. The Mario Bros. give him a brief recap of the situation, and as they cite the main reason for their trip into the realm Alex gets a surprised look on his face and reels his arms back to follow through on his emotions.

"A dragon? …That doesn't like a creation of Tabuu's at all. More-so considering how what you said accurately describes the appearance of the dragons of ancient Chinese mythology…I sensed a strong, almost nightmarish presence coming from afar just before I saw you guys. At least now I know who it belongs to…" "Either way, while I trust Bowser and Mallow to put up a good fight, we can't afford to waste any time in taking Tabuu down. I have a feeling deep in my gut that if that dragon is allowed to break all the way out of Subspace, that we are going to lose more than just Toad Town…" "Right." Luigi and Alex says in unison to reply to Mario's stated suspicion, deciding then and there that if they are going to say anymore they will do it while they are dashing towards Tabuu's location.

So as they are running, Mario turns his head and gives the young Overlord a concerned glare, as a question that has been on his mind finally finds its way into his mouth. "How are you holding in here?" "Huh?" The boy mutters a reply that shows his confusion. "Luigi and I are able to handle the corrosiveness of Subspace because we had exposure to it before…Granted we were trophies at the time but the effect seems to have carried over just fine…" "Oh, I see what you getting it. Actually, I seem to be holding up just fine. Probably has something to do with the Elemental Overlord's spirit protecting my mortal body…Though I'd imagine the spirits of the Genesis Samurais are assisting him too…"

That last comment causes Mario's eyelids to blink once in surprise, the rest of his face flinching in the face of this startling tidbit of news. "Alex…What are you talking about the Genesis Samurais for?" The young Overlord quickly realizes the slip of the tongue he just made, and slyly grins while an embarrassed chuckle slips past his teeth. "Hehehe…I guess I haven't told you about that, have I?" So while they continue to sprint across the darkened depths of Subspace Alex weaves together the tale of his confrontation with Joe Dark a while back, and how the Genesis Samurais took their spirits into his body in order to heal him and give him the strength to fight his nemesis. While he was at it, he doesn't fail to mention that he absorbed the souls of the inner guardians from the Element Stones to achieve his Phoenix Form.

"Well, that certainly explains a lot…So would it ever be possible for them to project their spirits out of your body so we might get to converse with them again once this has all passed?" Mario ponders, his tone filled with regret over the fact that he and his opponent in the Origin Temple, Zeno Blaze, had very little time to interact before their lives were ended by the reborn Dark King's hand. "I actually asked them about that a couple weeks ago. They said that while it is possible for them to do so, they could at best only manage to stay out for a minute. If they went any longer they would run the risk of the energy from the Blazing Overlord Fist going out of control, possibly to the point that the glove that E. Gadd made to contain most of the energy wouldn't even be able to stop it."

"The Blazing Overlord what?" Luigi says as he tilts his head and notices Alex holding his glove up in front of his face with a solemn look in his eyes. "Huh?" The boy promptly snaps out of it, lifting his head up to give the man in green a look of surprise. "You don't remember Luigi? I could've sworn you were around when I explained the details to the others…Oh wait, that's right, you were taking a nap at the time!" "Oh yeah…" The man in green says with a hint of embarrassment in his voice as he turns his head away so his brother and friend would fail to notice the red tint in his cheeks. "Meh, not like there is much to say. I used the Blazing Overlord Fist to finally end Joe Dark's life…And accidentally destroyed the Origin Temple in the process, but not like I was expecting that to happen anyways…"

Before he can further his explanation, the device in his left hand starts to beep loudly, the sound being heard despite the speakers being muffled due to being wrapped up in the grip of the boy's fingers. "You'll have to ask Mario about the rest of the details later…We're here." Putting the device into his left pants pocket, the heroes stop in place for a moment as they see the sight in front of them. There is a long, narrow glass staircase leading up to a pulsating core that looks like a Subspace Orb but with a darker tint. Every time the orb vibrates a wave of energy is released that loses its visibility after a span of five seconds.

"Alpha certainly knew what he was doing when he made that device…I can definitely detect Tabuu's presence in there." Mario says. Luigi nervously rubs the back of his head and takes one step forward. "I sure hope that he hasn't created another maze like the one we dealt with before…We really don't have any time to waste on one of those." "I doubt that's the case Luigi. Notice how the staircase is going towards just one, big orb? The maze he made before was a combination of glass spheres that showed an overhead view of each location that got sucked in by the detonation of the Subspace Bombs." Hearing his brother say that gives the man in green an ease of mind as he swipes his left glove across his face to remove the sweat from one of his brows. He then smacks the knuckles of his clenched fists together and slants his eyelids ready to fight.

"So we just have to take out Tabuu and that's that?" He asks. Mario gives him a brief nod, the swiftness of his response filling Luigi's mind with the confidence in their inevitable victory as he turns to look at the staircase. With no other words needed to be said the trio makes a mad dash for the stairs, their eyes never once looking behind them as they advance ever closer to their destination at the very core of this realm. Even when the glass starts to break apart behind them they stay focused only on their immediate goal, figuring that with their abilities it will be easy to escape regardless of their ground route being destroyed.

With their speed it takes but a minute for them to reach the top of the staircase, the last step breaking apart and sending shards into the abyss below. The heroes had reached their destination, a place where there was no visible ground in spite of the glow protruding from the bodies of the Mario Bros. The air around them is distorted, which is very fitting for the realm of glitches. On the opposite side of this orb is a swirling vortex of glowing ancient runes that after a few seconds changes to a purple wormhole where red energy is sent out through what appears to be electronic wires. The direction of the vortex then changes as a glowing maelstrom of red, purple, and dark blue streaks get sucked into it. A variety of other patterns provide a vibrant backdrop for what is sure to be a grand battle against the lord of Subspace, but from the looks of things he himself is not present despite Alpha's device saying otherwise.

"Do you still sense him Mario?" Alex asks as he steps in front of his friend and lifts his head up to try and seek out their enemy. "Yes. He IS here, I know it. He is doing a good job of hiding his physical form from us, that's for certain…" The group splits up, using their limited numbers to try and cover as much of the area around them for any signs of Tabuu. After a few seconds of searching, they return back to the part of the core they were at before. "I wonder if we were led into a trap?" Alex asks. "No, we haven't been led into one…I can still sense Tabuu's energy signature. If anything, I think that he-" In an flash of light both Mario and Luigi vanish from view, leaving Alex alone before his plumber friend could finish his sentence.

Suddenly sensing what Mario was sensing all this time, the young Overlord turns around and sees a figure descend from the shadows above. It is an old man with a body that is devoid of all flesh, but there is not a person in the world besides him who knows just what the basic composition of his form is now. There is a black core where his heart should be, dark crimson veins surrounding it and spreading out to his limbs for a few inches before it thins out to the point that they are practically invisible. His arms are folded in front of his chest, the left arm being raised more to fit with the fact that the leg on that same side is bent up slightly as well. There is both white and black colors mixed into the "skin" of his body, and as he lifts his bald head up to look down at the boy his lips curl into a smirk.

"So you finally showed up…Tabuu." The young Overlord extends his right out to the side of his body as a few rings of fire swirl into existence in front of his palm. When they vanish a curved sword with two sharpened points on the left side of the blade is seen suspended in mid-air for but a moment, as Alex grabs the handle tightly and gives the weapon a swing out besides himself. "What did you do to Mario and Luigi?" The man descends into he is only an inch above the ground, his stature remaining the same even as he looks the young Overlord straight in the eyes. "They are fine; I sent them away to the desolate, white void where my Great Maze once existed. They shall live for now, but they will be dealt with later. YOU are my immediate target, Elemental Overlord."

"You…Know of my title?" Alex states in surprise, his eyes widening for a moment before a scowl emerges on his face upon realizing something about Tabuu's presence here. "Are you one of the remnants of the Dark King's army?" He asks, thinking back to the grim message left behind by Joe Dark before he was killed in battle. Tabuu finds this question to be rather curious, as he lifts an eyebrow gently in confusion. "No, I am a solo faction, the undisputable leader of the Subspace Army. I bear no association with that dead, demonic entity. I have invaded the world of Plit to accomplish two tasks on my own accord…Trap the heroes of this world who stood on Master Hand's side in the whitened, desolate wasteland in Subspace….And extinguish the spirit of the Elemental Overlord from this world by killing YOU." As he utters that final word with a grimly emphasis, Tabuu finally raises his right arm up and points a finger at the boy's chest, a paralyzing sensation being sent through his nervous system as if an arrow was shot into his spine.

"What? What do you have against the Elemental Overlord?" Alex inquires as he lifts his sword up in front of his chest ready to fight. "That…Is none of your concern." Tabuu tugs his pointed arm back behind him. At that very moment a jerking sensation can be felt on the young Overlord's chest, as a golden chain that wasn't visible before comes into existence attached to the area where the pain is being felt at. Before a reaction can be given from the boy his chest is flung forward for a second, the rest of his body being dragged through the air towards the lord of Subspace like a fish being reeled out of the water. As Tabuu lets go of the "Chain of Light" and pays it no heed as it breaks apart, he moves his other hand forward and clenches the fingers into the shape of a fist.

He makes no effort to thrust it out, the strength in his blow will be provided by the velocity of which the young Overlord is moving towards him at. But seconds before the two forces collide Alex places his sword diagonally in front of his body to block the fist, its impact with the blade creating three aqua-blue shockwaves of varying sizes. In his current state the boy finds it difficult to keep his guard up, and with a little pressure and the release of one last shockwave Tabuu is able to overpower the blade's defense and send its owner hurtling backwards. As the back of his pants collides with the floor Alex begins to skid along it with his eyelids shut tight from the pain inflicted by the attack. It doesn't take long for him to recover from that though and the first thing he does is spin his weapon around and jam the tip of the blade into the ground, using it as a brake to stop himself from falling off the core's edge. When he has slowed down to a certain point he grabs the handle with both hands and uses it like a pole to vault himself into the air, using his feet to initiate a kick flip and then stop his advance by hovering harmlessly in place. As the weapon continues to grind along with the momentum it has built up, Alex swings his left arm out behind him and calls to it the second it prepares to fly off the edge of the battlefield. As if it had a mind of its own the weapon heeds his master's will, pulling itself out of the ground and spinning around in circles until it finds its handle in the grasp of the young Overlord, who swings the weapon in an arc in front of him, let's go of it mid-swing, and quickly grabs onto it again with the opposite hand to brandish it out in front of his body.

"Well maneuvered child…But that was only one attack, and I have plenty more where that came from." Tabuu says, moving his arms and leg back into their normal positions as he gives his opponent some sincere praise. "I see already that your strength is much greater than that of your soldiers and generals…It only makes sense considering your position." As Alex returns the compliment with one of his own, he moves his left hand towards the grey-colored trigger on the handle of his sword. "I won't get anything done in this form…So it is time for a little assistance. Quell the Eternal Storm! Trigger: Wind Reaper!" With those two declarations the trigger is given a little tug, a wolf's howl echoing through the confines of Subspace as the boy is swiftly covered in a heavy veil of fog. It takes but five seconds for it to dispel, and once it does young Overlord is now wearing a white poncho with trails of dark-blue cloths hanging down from his shoulders. The cloth reaches down to his ankles, and both his hair and eyes have become light-grey in color. In his right hand is a black scythe that has many bumps on its rod, each one filled with varying amounts of air.

"…This is interesting." Tabuu states, his mind clearly not prepared for the development brought forth before him. The lord of Subspace raises his body up so he is once again on level with the young Overlord, his brows slanted as he begins to come up with plan after plan to deal with his opponent. Alex says nothing in response and holds his weapon out above his head, spinning it around with a twirl of his palm to drag in some of the air around them to build up power. When he feels he has enough he tightly grips the staff and swings the weapon in front of him, a torrent of air blades being released from the silver glowing metal. Not only were these created to attack his enemy, but to also obscure his vision momentarily while he snaps the fingers of his other hand to create a spherical fog veil that allows him to blend in perfectly.

Tabuu dispatches the wind blades with a steady swing of his right arm, his eyes then scanning the newly formed distraction for any signs of life. Though his physical form has become buried behind this rather bothersome distraction, the young Overlord has not stopped himself from breathing, and though the sound is at first faint it takes but a few moments of him slinking through the veil for Tabuu to pinpoint his exact location. When Alex makes an attempt to cut the air out of the man's body by utilizing his scythe's ability, the lord of Subspace simply blinks his eyelids once, his body transforming into an energy cage that bears a resemblance to a pair of glowing yellow brackets. With the arc-shaped slash in a way missing its target, Alex fails to notice the cage moving towards him due to his arm blocking his outlook of the area. The two halves split apart, a small purple device branded as a "Motion Sensor Bomb" materializes on top of the center as they return to their original position and trap the young Overlord in their clutches.

Now that his arms are forced against the sides of his body, Alex helplessly struggles to break himself free, as for whatever reason his ability to turn intangible has been negated by the brackets. The veil of fog also disappears, but that is not noticed by the young Overlord because the brackets are currently sinking towards the ground at a rapid pace and him along with them. When the impact finally elapses the bomb goes off, the consequent explosion sending the boy hurtling into the air after his body rebounds off the ground due to the brackets discharging him from their grasp. Though his poncho has been only slightly singed by the detonation, the boy's body took lots of damage from it. But he doesn't have any time to recover in mid-air, as Tabuu teleports behind his predetermined path and puts both of his arms out in front of him of his chest. He then begins to slash the area in front of him, creating visible purple scratch marks in the process. The first couple of blows miss, but the remainder of them catch Alex out of the air and juggle him in place. With his skin and clothes being scarred by the salvo of slashes, the young Overlord can only hope that the attack will end soon so he can change forms and mend his injuries.

After yearning for the end of the assault it takes but two seconds for that event to pass, and Tabuu finishes his move off by raising his right arm into the air and delivering a powerful karate chop right into the back of Alex's neck, which sends him spiraling down towards the ground faster than one can bat an eyelash at. The young Overlord grimaces at the pain and spins his body around so his feet can cushion most of the impact with the ground. Though the pain springs up through the nerve endings in his legs upon making contact, he bends the rest of his body down so the pain doesn't increase any further than it already has. But a moment later he falls to his knees with one hand pressed against his chest. The blow to his neck had done more than leave a physical wound.

The transmission of air from his lungs to the rest of his body had been cut off faintly. It was an ironic twist of fate in his current form, but as the young Overlord's body quivers around to keep steady, he finds that the grip on his sword is loosening. "No…Got to keep it together…" Grabbing back onto the handle of his weapon through sheer willpower, he lifts his head up and notices the lord of Subspace calmly turning his body around so his head is aimed at the ground. He brandishes one arm out in front of the head and changes his form to that of a wide, vaguely shark-shaped blade that bears the same colors as that of his normal form. With it charging down to cleave his body in two, Alex quickly moves his hand towards the brown trigger of the handle. "Fracture the Silent Earth…Trigger: Gaia Bruiser!" His call to the element thus declared, the boy tugs the trigger with all the might he can put into his pointer finger.

A layer of mud swiftly covers his body, drying up and cracking away to reveal his new, rejuvenating form. His jeans have become tattered, dirt being visible on his bare kneecaps. His shirt is off of his body and wrapped around his waist, with streaks of dirt placed all around his skin. His hair is ruffled, but besides that there is no other change to his facial region. In his hand is a bulky hammer, but with a pick-axe part attached to the smooth sides. He picks himself up off the ground and raises his weapon behind his shoulders with both hands, applying as much of his strength as he can into slamming it down into the ground. The earthquake that follows this powerful impact is also joined by two diamond pillars erupting behind and in front of Alex, their hardened structures catching the charging Tabuu between their grasp.

The grating resonance of the blade's sharp edges grinding against the pillar's surfaces does little to break the young Overlord's composure as he pulls his weapon out of the ground. He then leaps forward and sticks the pick-axe portion of the hammer's left side to the pillar to keep himself in place for a moment as he thinks of his next move. It appeared obvious that Tabuu couldn't go out of his current form, so he felt it was safe to attack him while the prospect was offered. So he leapt out with his hammer following in his grasp and kicked his feet off the next pillar, which put him in attack range of the shark blade. With the hammer raised horizontally above his head in the grasp of his left hand, Alex takes his body and spins himself to the left, letting momentum take hold and carry his hammer along to deliver an almighty blow straight into the core of Tabuu's body, which at the moment corresponds to the eye of the blade. Before the attack is let loose the young Overlord commands the pillars to sink back into the ground, so that way he will knock the lord of Subspace away from him instead of only attacking and letting him get back into his true form quick enough to perform a counter-offensive.

Once his feet have slammed into the ground and cracked it from the weight, Alex slams the top of his hammer in front of his body and moves his right hand towards the yellow trigger near the bottom of the handle. "Shoot the Furious Lightning! Trigger: Electric Sniper!" The skies erupt with the sounds of thunder, as a huge bolt of blue lightning comes down above and smites him where he stands. The electricity surges through the cracks in the floor surrounding him, and when they vanish Alex can be seen wearing a metallic commando suit made out of hardened black and yellow lightning. His head is covered up by a helmet made out of a similar material as the suit. The only part of his face revealed is his mouth, as the eyes and nose are covered by a dark green visor, though there is still a clear enough view that you can see that the boy's eyes and hair have become yellow as well. His hands now have black latex gloves on them, and in the grasp of his right hand is a dark yellow sniper rifle.

After spinning around in mid-air for a couple moments Tabuu returns to his true form and stops in place in his habitual pose, his equanimity still maintained despite the hint of pain coming from his core. When he sees his opponent in his newfound armor, he is only given a moment to move his left arm out before the young Overlord cocks his weapon over the apposite shoulder with one hand and pull the trigger with the other. A small electric bullet fires out and strikes the wrist of the lord of Subspace, a thin trail of smoke rising out of the seared mark that appears soon afterwards. Though to him the attack felt like a bug bite, he knew then and there that he is going to have to increase the focus of his eyes to avoid any stronger shots.

To respond to that attack, Tabuu takes his right arm above the side of his head and twirls his extended pointer finger around in a circle. Halfway through the thin image of a huge, circular, three-bladed shuriken starts to materialize above the path he traces in the air. When two twirls have happened the lord of Subspace stops his finger and bends the upper part of it down towards his enemy. The shuriken then begins to spin around and travel down in an arc towards the armored Overlord, who turns around and jumps as soon as he notices it to dodge it. He then lifts his weapon up in front of his face while the scanner in his visor deduces Tabuu's weak spot. But at that moment Alex remembers something imperative about the attack that was just fired at him and lowers his rifle slightly as he notes how skeptical the situation currently was. By quickly turning his body around he notices the shuriken coming back at him like a boomerang, so he flies off to the right to get out of its way. But something was off about the projectile. Slowly but surely its size was amplifying, and that is a fact that is not picked up on in time by the young Overlord, who finds the chest plate of his suit cut apart by one of the blades in a matter of seconds.

The wires now exposed and fragments of electricity being released out of the armor, the visor's line of sight becomes blurred by static every other second, leaving Alex to wonder just what his next move shall be. With a swish of the hand through the air by Tabuu, the shuriken stops in place and reverses its rotation, essentially turning itself around to make another attempt at the young Overlord's life. Foreseeing another increase in the projectile's size, Alex chooses this time around to rise higher into the air, the blades spinning casually underneath him as he gets out of the way. Seeing as the attack isn't going to be stopped by Tabuu unless its target is dealt with, Alex decides then and there that he will simply have to come up with a way to dispatch of it himself.

Taking a look at the projectile as well as he can, the young Overlord notices something that should've been clear from the start. It is not the entire thing whose size has increased exponentially, but the blades that have lengthened to carve through a broader range. He also notes to himself that the shuriken is drawing in the very tincture of Subspace itself to make this all feasible. With this information gathered there is but one thing to do. Since Subspace is a substance/physical manifestation of electronic glitches, an electric disruption in the axis of the shuriken should be enough to break it apart and free him from being chased by it.

First things first though, the young Overlord would have to get his visor in working order. Since this armor wasn't originally his he doesn't know the inner-workings of it. But fortuitously for him the soul of the one who DID create it is resting in his body ready to be called upon for help at his command. "Pitori, can you hear me?" Alex thinks to himself as a way to communicate with the confines of his very being, floating higher up into the air as the projectile comes around for another go. _"__I can tell what is going on from within here Master Alex. If you want to fix the visor, just say 'Redirect Circuit 12 to Socket B'. If you need any further aid, just think it and I'll be ready to assist. I wish you luck in your battle!" _The boy's soul whose name the young Overlord mentioned gives a helpful yet swift response, returning to silence the moment his duty is done.

"Alright then…Redirect Circuit 12 to Socket B!" With the command given with confidence the armor acts suitably to its master desire, and in the span of three seconds the visor is fixed to perfection. There is no time to praise the creator for his help, as the young Overlord has to tap the side of his visor to activate the scouter that is necessary to analyze and lock-on to the center of the shuriken. When the target reticule meets the mandatory spot, Alex quickly takes his rifle in front of his face and after a one second charge he fires a medium-sized electric bullet right into the center of the shuriken, where it gets stuck in place and sends energy out through the projectile, doing exactly the job that the young Overlord planned for it to do just moments before the southernmost blade succeeded in scraping the same spot where it struck him earlier.

With a moments reprise now given to him, Alex looks up at the lord of Subspace. He gave him a curious glare, finding it rather skeptical that he didn't fire off another attack while he was distracted with the shuriken. But that suspicion is rendered useless when he comes to the conclusion that Tabuu probably had to put all of his focus into guiding the attack along its way. The man has his arms folded in the same pose, his presence looming high-up above the rest of this theatre of war as a peculiar smile appears on his face. "That was a rather quick-witted way of managing that attack!" He exclaims so his opponent can hear him. "Well then, I guess now I can stop using my slowest attacks against you!"

In that very instance Tabuu waves his left arm out in front of his body, snapping his fingers together as a trail of large sparkles leading to Alex's exact location appears throughout the air. But these are only visible to the originator, and because of this the young Overlord preps his rifle for a salvo of shots that will hopefully break the man's awareness. In that duration of two seconds though explosions go off in that pre-made line and with the speeds at which they appear Alex has absolutely no time to steer clear of them. The last one in the chain sends him rocketing towards the ground, chunks of his armor also getting blown off in the process. When he crashes down against the floor his helmet cracks in the back and is knocked off from the rest of the armor, leaving his head vulnerable to an attack from all fronts.

Taking advantage of his current dilemma, Tabuu gracefully waves his right arm out in front of his chest. A variety of diminutive holes open up in the sky, aligned in such a way that they can only be seen from below by Alex. At his call the lord of Subspace's "Chains of Light" emerge from the gashes and rain down towards the young Overlord's body. It is only through sheer chance that not a single one punctures his skull then and there, though they still manage to pierce through the armor and pin him against the ground. In a scenario that feels rather recognizable to the boy, he notices that he can't moves any of his limbs, but thankfully none of the chains are even touching his skin. There are a total of thirteen golden chains stuck in his armor, the remainder of them disintegrating as their purpose is considered null and void as they are now.

"Geez, not again…" Alex thinks to himself as he laments the position he will now be forced to deal with. He notices that he still has a grip on his rifle, and though he knows a way out of this he knows that we be able to perform the action with only five fingers. He needed the assistance of his other hand, but would he be able to bring the two close enough is the question that loomed on his mind. He tilts his head to the left, noticing that there is only one chain above his left shoulder, which in the end does nothing to impede his ability to move the arm. There is the fact that the sharp nail at the end will scrape against the shoulder as he moves the limb, but that pain will abate once he pulls off his desired task.

All the while though the lord of Subspace descends closer and closer to the ground. His intent was clear just from a single look into his eyes. He was going to end the battle while his target was incapable of moving. Once he was two feet away from the ground the man stopped in place and grinned. He raises his arms behind his back and forced his chest out, his body rising up slightly as a cannon shaped like a dragon's head manifests itself below his feet. By the time he has lowered his arms beside his hips the mouth of the cannon starts to glow brightly. With only a few seconds away until the laser from the barrel is fired, Alex desperately tugs his left arm over his chest and grabs onto whatever trigger the fingers in his right hand aren't wrapped around.

"By the oath of the almighty servant I offer my soul to harmonize the seven elements into one equal being. I am the vessel of which the golden flames shall connect, the bane of evil and the siren through which good prevails. I offer my prayer to the heavens to give me the wings of the reborn unifier! All Trigger Unison: Phoenix Form!" At the very moment that the triggers are pulled does a pure white laser with a red rim around it fire from the cannon. A golden barrier surrounds the young Overlord's body as his transformation occurs, the energy from the laser colliding straight on with it and spreading around it to reach the other side and engulf the shield entirely.

A multitude of flames spawn from nowhere and find themselves being dragged into the shield, wrapping it completely in their burning might until a specific point where the energy overloads and releases in the form of a massive golden flaming pillar that forces the golden chains off of the owner's body and breaks them apart down to their rudimentary elements. The laser itself stops being fired and the dragon head vanishes as Tabuu looks on in astonishment of the event. A flap from a pair of wings disperses flames across the battlefield, and standing in the center where that pillar once was is Alex. Being the owner of the red-orange wings, he spreads them out proudly while his majestic fire red eyes glance at the lord of Subspace with a determined sensation radiating from within. He holds his sword up in front of his chest, the triggers having vanished now that he had reached the epitome of his forms.

"Time for round two…" With that being the only thing he needs to say to the lord of Subspace Alex charges forth, his body vanishing momentarily before reappearing in front of Tabuu to deliver a mighty left hook right into his as of then unguarded chest. The force of the blow forces air through the man's lungs that emerges out of his mouth not a moment afterwards. Following up his first attack with a reel back of the arm and an upward slash with his sword, the young Overlord is shocked when the lord of Subspace regains his composure and teleports away just before the tip of his blade can make contact with him. He isn't worried about a sneak attack though, for there is an aspect of his new form that Tabuu knows nothing about.

The man finally makes a return appearance behind him, and though he notices this by quickly shifting his eyes to look over his shoulder he stands absolutely motionless and lets the lord of Subspace thrusts one fist out towards his backside. As the wings continue to flap and the knuckles make contact with the area between them, a green shockwave is released as a primal roar also echoes within Tabuu's eardrums. Curious about why his attack hasn't made his opponent flinch in spite of the fact that there shouldn't be this big of a disparity between their power levels, the man uses his multi-chop attack that he had hit his opponent with earlier. Each blow pounds against the invisible wall that is seemingly set up to protect its master, a shockwave being released every time as the young Overlord keeps his cool and waits for Tabuu to give up before he continues his offensive.

When the barrage of chops has ended and the slash marks have faded into oblivion, Tabuu stares at the boy's back in bewilderment, sensing his intent to kill and teleporting out of the way of an out held 360 degree slash attack. With his wings now resting horizontally along the air, Alex bends forward and holds his sword's blade beside his right shoulder as he looks around for Tabuu's energy signature. The moment it reemerges the boy turns around and finds the lord of Subspace waiting for him in the air with his arms crossed in their signature position. The young Overlord charges forth with his sword held behind his back.

When he gets within range he swings out, only for Tabuu to smirk and teleport away, leaving behind an explosion in his wake that makes contact with Alex and causes a blue shockwave to emerge from his body and a robotic click to ring in the lord of Subspace's ears. Though the smoke that gets left behind leaves the boy blinded eye-wise, he is still able to detect his opponent's energy. Dispelling his sword for but a brief moment, the young Overlord flips his body around and aims himself down towards the ground, pulling his arms out beside himself and calling forth two orbs of flames in each palm. The mass of the two orbs grows until both are the size of his head, at which point he thrusts his hands out in front of his body to send a massive beam of flames at the area where Tabuu is certain to appear at next, declaring the name of the attack as "Flame Cannon" as he launches it.

Upon his re-emergence the lord of Subspace notices the searing beam coming his way and immediately discards his calm expression in exchange for one of surprise, but instead of counterattack he once again teleports to get out of the attacks path, an explosion being left behind as he does so. When the attack has reached its climax Alex pulls his arms back to get a better look at his environment. His eyelids are slanted, his patience wearing thin as he wonders just why his opponent is playing chicken at a time like this. He needed a way to get him to stay still so he can launch an attack in the span of time that he is paralyzed. Thinking of that last word removes his serious expression and makes him snap his fingers to create a spark between them after an idea had popped into his head.

After spending a moment trying to out-predict Tabuu's movements, Alex spins his arm to the left and opens his hand up wide, sending multiple streams of electricity out towards where the lord of Subspace is going to appear at. When the man does exactly that, instead of teleporting away again he pulls his left arm away from the rest of his body and swats the streams away. But in the span of time that it takes him to do this Alex redraws his sword and with one hand he slashes it out in front of his body, sending a wave of flames that holds the combined energies of the Fire and Earth elements, the second one being added in to increase the force of the impact.

The "Magma Cutter" collides head-on with Tabuu's body, which is then forced backwards through the air for a few yards until he is able to pull his right arm out of the attack and place his palm against the side of it. At that point he corrupts the combined energy with the power of Subspace and the color of it changes from red and brown to a murky blue and purple. With the wave incapable of causing him anymore harm, he waves his right arm out in front of his body after it has stopped in place, the attack turning around and rocketing back towards its original owner. Though there are no visible scars on his body, Tabuu did in fact take damage from the few seconds of which the attack had made contact with him, as evidenced by the fact that he has his right palm against the part of his chest where most of the attack had hit him at.

When he sees that his attack has been reflected, Alex draws his sword out in front of him and cuts the air, breaking the wave in two before it can reach his body. He performs a flip so his aura protected foot can kick through the separated halves just to be on the safe side. After he is back to his normal position the young Overlord grabs the handle of his weapon with both hands and holds it up beside the right side of his face, gritting his teeth as he think to himself "Ok then, guess projectile attacks aren't my best option here…"

The two forces charge at each other after a five second period of silence. Alex unleashes a flurry of sword slashes when he is but a foot away from Tabuu, but the lord of Subspace responds by stopping in the nick of time and letting his core split into several fragments that proceed to fly around in circle around him while emitting electricity. You could compare the appearance of this move to that of an atom, with Tabuu being the nucleus and the fragments being the electrons. The comparison is not pertinent to the battle though, but the effects of the attack are. Each fragment does a successful job of blocking the young Overlord's barrage of physical blows, and thanks to the voltage infused within them the core itself take no damage, effectively making the lord of Subspace invincible so long as the boy keeps doing what he is doing.

Alex chooses to take a risk and stops what he is doing almost instantly. He grips his sword's handle the way he had it before he charged in, and thrusts it through the electric shield. The orbs slam against his arm, but each time a white shockwave emerges and a wolf's howl is heard in Tabuu's ears each time they touch. After fire spirals around the perimeter of the blade, a short ranged cylinder surge of flames is fired directly into Tabuu's chest, the force of the blow being powerful enough to knock him back a few feet. This is followed up with another shot that sends him back further, and yet another one that is bigger in size and sends him hurtling away and forces the core to form back together and return to his body as smoke rises out from the area where he was attacked.

Once he is back in position Tabuu floats up while waving his right arm back and forth in front of his face to weave together a blade of energy. He then dives straight down at the young Overlord as he is dealing with the recoil from his own attack. The lord of Subspace lifts his slanted body up slightly and rams right into Alex's chest as he holds his sword out beside himself. A yellow shockwave emerges as a regal laugh fills the man's eardrums, the force of his dive pushing the young Overlord and himself through the air despite the fact that his blade isn't being successful in piercing through its target. Seeing a prime opportunity to deal visible damage to his opponent, Alex raises his sword ignites it, bringing it down at the wrist of the arm to try and cut it off.

But Tabuu is quick to notice the movement of his opponent's weapon and draws his arm back, following up with a rising knee to the boy's chin once the sword has gone along its path. Another yellow shockwave emerges, the same sound being heard afterwards. Though the ineffectuality of his attacks is starting to grate on his nerves, the lord of Subspace remains his composed, calculative self, his mind piecing together the puzzle of the abilities the young Overlord has in this form of his. Dodging another sword slash with a pull back of his head, Tabuu gracefully spins around and transforms into a Shark Blade again, hoping the boy will avoid his attack and thus allowing him to put some distance between them.

Though the first part of his plan comes to pass, Alex calmly turns around and begins to pursue him relentlessly, his wings flapping wildly as his speed increases to match that of his opponent's charge. Surprised by this action, Tabuu stops paying attention to what is in front of him long enough for the young Overlord to snap his fingers a summon forth a wall of colored fire orbs in front of him, each one imbued with the energies of a different element. The lord of Subspace moves his core eye forward to look on, and the moment it widens in complete shock he collides with it. The series of multicolored detonations that follows allows Alex to stop himself and take a breather as he looks on at the explosions engulfing Tabuu. "I can still sense his energy…"

The boy thinks to himself about his next move as the smoke breaks away to reveal the lord of Subspace back in his normal pose. There is a difference though, as he is beginning to breathe slowly but heavily, and his arms have also lowered a couple of inches. He struggles to keep his right eyelid open, but he doesn't look like he is on the verge of a breakdown. With a coy smile on his face, he looks on at the young Overlord and moves his hands together to clap. "Well fought so far. Everything is going just how I expected it would…However…" After pausing mid-sentence the man folds his arms back together and floats a few feet closer, causing the young Overlord to raise his sword ready to attack. But the man bears no ill-will, and stops the moment he sees his opponent on edge.

"There is really no suspense to our fight if you are the only one causing any harm, while I waste my time dealing with your barriers. Let us fix that, shall we?" Alex could sense it in his tone. Tabuu wasn't saying that to bluff him, he was actually serious about what he said. With a great deal of urgency the boy rushes forward to strike the lord of Subspace before he can escape. But with a sly grin on his face he teleports to another part of the area and aims his right arm towards where the befuddled young Overlord is now. A bombardment of miniature Subspace bullets rains down to gain his attention, and when a series of small brown shockwaves erupts all over his body he turns his head towards the lord of Subspace and presses his feet against the air to launch himself up with his sword held behind his back.

With every single bullet being tanked by the shockwaves, Alex is confident that he will make it to Tabuu in time to bring him down before he is allowed to fulfill his plan. When his barrage proves ineffectual the lord of Subspace pulls his right arm back and thrusts the opposite one out, sending a large crimson orb with a black center towards the young Overlord. In defense he raises his sword and slams the sharp side of the blade right into the front of the orb. With a one-handed swing proving to be incapable of cutting the attack in two, Alex places his other hand on the handle to strengthen it.

Having dealt with his opponent for the time being with his distraction, Tabuu folds his arms into his chest and lift his leg up as something begins to materialize behind his back. They are a pair of butterfly-like wings; the structure composed of ancient blue runes the likes of which none has ever seen before. The lord of Subspace spreads his legs and crosses his arms in an "X" pattern in front of his body as he bends forwards to spread the wings out wide. The absolute essence of Subspace is drawn in to his body from all-around, charging his power to a point that the area starts to quake in fear. By this point Alex has cut the orb in two, and without hesitation he charges forward to strike Tabuu down before he can fire off his next attack.

But it was too late. The lord of Subspace swings his arms out beside his body brings his legs closer together, a massive energy ring spreading out from his core that tears apart even the air as a part of it moves towards the young Overlord. At the speeds of which it moves he is unable to mount a counterattack in time, and the ring smashes against his body and summons forth an icy-blue shockwave to defend it. Instead of the normal sound though, a blood-curling shriek is heard in Alex's eardrums. By the time his eyes widen and he wonders just why that has happened, another ring is thrust out from Tabuu's body.

This ring collides with the shockwave and stops in place, the sheer magnitude of its power grinding against the barrier and forcing a multitude of piercing screams to fill Alex's ears as his shockwave changes color from icy-blue to red, then it changes to green much to the boy's surprise and flashes through the seven colors they showed before until it reaches red again and shatters. At that point the ring passes through the young Overlord's body. Then one final ring is fired off from Tabuu's body, and now that he has been rendered defenseless when the attack collides with him Alex is pressed against it and dragged through the air towards the ground below.

There was no way to truly describe the painful sensation his body was going through at that very moment. His nerves were alternating between going numb and flaring back up, the energy that flowed into him messing his senses to the point that he couldn't tell what was real and what was not. It felt never-ending, and even when he was finally slammed into the ground the ring dug right through him and made his heart beat at an even faster rate than it was before, to the point that it seemed ready to burst along with his lung cavities. He wanted to scream but he couldn't, he wanted to fight back but his body refused to respond to his wishes, and worst of all the cries of the souls within him continue to ring in his eardrums.

Alex could only visualize how Mario and the others felt when they experienced this attack so long ago. He could see the purpose of these "Off-Waves" of Tabuu's. They aren't designed to bring about death, but instead they inflict so much pain on the target that they will make them long for it. The burden of a thousand lifeless bodies cast upon him, the weight of which almost makes the young Overlord unable to lift himself back up. But no matter his nervous system's feelings on the matter, he had to get back up. Tabuu couldn't be allowed to prevail, Plit couldn't be allowed to be subjugated by him, no matter the cost. Drawing upon every last bit of strength he has left in his being, the boy presses the back of his hands against the ground to lift himself up. He then curls his legs back and moves them around so the knees are pressing down. He then places his left hand on the ground and presses as hard as he can so the upper part of his body rises along with his bent legs. With his sword gripped loosely in his other hand, Alex finally gets onto his feet and though his visions is somewhat blurry and his body is trembling all-around, he stays firm in his valor and looks straight up at the lord of Subspace as he dispels his wings and begins to float down until he is one inch above the ground, at which point he looks the boy straight in the eyes with a smile on his face.

"I didn't think you would survive that. Even if you have the Elemental Overlord's powers, no mortal has ever lived from the effects of my Off-Waves before this day. Granted, your previous attacks weakened me immensely, so that could be part of the reason why…" As Tabuu ponders his opponent's survival, Alex wonders just what his next move should be, and what the lord of Subspace shall also do as well. The man lowers his left hand from his chin and folds both arms in front of his chest. "I can see it in your eyes. That subconscious desire to learn my motivations for attacking…You've proven yourself to be a great opponent, and though I bear ill-will towards the original Elemental Overlord I will at the very least tell you a brief tale of past events. That way, you'll be enlightened before I cast you off to death's door…"

A spark of inspiration lights up in the young Overlord's eyes. This was just what he needed. Though it was slow, in his Phoenix Form he did have a bit of a healing factor. There was no way for him to return to his full health, but perhaps Tabuu's tale would grant him enough time to at least regain enough power to finish the battle. Putting all of his faith into this plan, Alex stays silent and keeps his ears open to listen on to everything the lord of Subspace had to say to him.


	7. The Truth, The Finale, The Aftermath

"_It all started a thousand years ago. I lived in a long forgotten city that rested on the Isle of the Ancients. I was the sage there, a man revered for his vast knowledge of both the mystical and the technological. We flourished as a species, our bond with nature never once waning…We had created our own animals, our own buildings, and even our own energy source. You know this core of mine? Me and a group of scientists combined all of our intellect to create it. We wanted to expand our knowledge to that of other worlds, and by using this core we would've accomplished that task simply by connecting it to the center ruins on the island and supercharging it with atomic energy."_

"_Just thinking about the future then and there kept me in high spirits, the constant reminder of the good I would be doing for the universe being my main motivator as I worked hard both day and night. The Elemental Overlord himself even came to our world a few times, interested in the progress we were making on the inter-dimensional warp gate. He never showed any signs of malevolence, he was pure in every sense of the word….How wrong was I to put him on such a high pedestal, looking back on it now. Our land was a bountiful utopia, a reborn embodiment of God's long-lost paradise, Eden. Maybe that is why events unfolded the way they did…Perhaps we were deemed to be blasphemers for trying to step on the land of one who is above all…"_

"_It was like any other day, as the final touches were being put on the dimensional core and the sun shone brightly onto our lands. Think about it. Why would you ever suspect danger, or even death under the light of the morning sun? The sun is surely the most deceptive out of all the celestial bodies. One look at it lowers your guard, making your mind believe that, even for a second, everything will be alright in your life and the bad times will soon pass. Hahahaha…But at the same time, that very innocent belief will lower your guard to the point that even the slightest bad news will traumatize you for the remainder of the day…"_

"_I went to the core to run an in-depth analyze on its basic structure and the elements that made up its insides. I spent an hour inside a soundproof, indestructible room. It was made as a safety precaution should the core become unstable, which it would if exposed to high concentrations of heat. Don't worry, your battle with me has done nothing to disrupt it, I assure you that…Either way, everything checked out just fine, and after I had sealed the core back up I exited the room…"_

"_The rest of the building had been abandoned, but there was nothing suspicious about that at the time, for I merely assumed that the rest of the scientists had gone to the ruins to make the final preparations for the core's transfer to the area. I made my way to the front door, opened it up…And looked on in horror as I saw explosions engulfing the town. Fire scathed the buildings, the smoke from them rising up and covering the clouds and creating lighting that further wrecked the land and scared away all the wildlife…That is to say, any of the wildlife that wasn't killed by the devastation that swept my precious home."_

"_I ran down the staircase, yelling at the top of my lungs to call out for anyone who might still be alive. I never heard a single reply, and my journey through the city only led to the discovery of skeletons and burning corpses, many of which I recognized as my colleagues and my closest friends…Everyone was killed, from our soldiers to the children, the mothers to the fathers…No one was left alive save for me. As I tried my hardest to grasp the fact that I was the last of my kind alive on the planet, and our once thriving utopia was going to inevitably turn into a barren wasteland…I heard it."_

"_An insanity induced laugh that came from the shadow of a giant, floating hand from beyond the flames. Its fingers wiggled around without end, as if the being took glee in causing all this destruction. I began to walk back, hoping that if I could make it back to the building I would at least live to finish the dimension travel project and figure out a way to exact vengeance on this being from there. But my right foot crunch down on one of the bones, and that made that crazed destroyer stop moving for just a moment so it can turn towards my direction. It moved through the flames, its body unscarred when its appearance became clear to me. It was a glove whose thumb was on the left side, and upon seeing me its gleeful, insane laughter once again filled the air."_

"_I panicked and picked up a plasma gun that was next to me, instinctively firing it at its palm before it had a chance to attack. It was a fatal blow that paralyzed it and left a scorch mark where the shot had hit. I turned around and ran as fast as I could, failing to notice that the wound was regenerate as I kept moving as fast as I could. I knew there was only one way that I would be able to survive now that I had been noticed. If I got to the core and tossed it into the fires, then, it would collapse upon itself and take the mysterious hand with it…There was a risk that I would be caught in the blast radius, but I didn't care about that at that point…"_

"_I rammed my shoulder through the doors of the laboratory, making my way to the back room where the core still rested. The moment I entered the access code to enter, that glove blew up the entrance to the lab, a shard of metal very nearly taking my head off as fire began to spread through the building. It was the last sanctuary for me, but as soon as I entered the indestructible confines of the core's holding cell I was able to take a moment's breather as the hand tried in futility to break in. I heard explosions and lasers, but knew that I was safe no matter what it tried. So I walked over to the core and shut the container off, grasping my life's work in the palm of my hand and holding it near my chest as I tearfully remembered the time I had spent with my colleagues to create what would've benefit so many planets and dimensions…And now the invention would've been used to avenge the people on my planet…"_

"_I turned and ran towards the door, hoping to open it and slip by so I can lure the hand to the burning town and finish him off. But before I made it halfway across the room the insane destroyer phased through the wall, laughing wildly all the way as its fingers continued to flail about. I didn't care about the how or why, I just continued to run towards the door to open it, narrowly avoiding a couple of bullets that were fired from its fingertips. When I escaped the hand followed in hot pursuit. I reached the top of the staircase and leapt out, my body turning itself around as I flung the core at the hand while it hovered behind me."_

"_It was then that my body froze in place, my arms and legs stretched out to the farthest possible point as the core stopped just a few inches away from the hand that had spread its fingers out wide. What followed up was its ecstatic laughter as it effortlessly rose my body up to a level point and began to move the core towards it without so much as flinching. I felt something inside of me being destroyed as it moved closer…My heart, my only means of life support, was being disintegrated…And I was able to feel each and every atom being torn and dragged out through the pores in my skin…In its place, the hand grafted that very core by phasing it through my chest…It connected to the rest of my veins, and a sharp sensation thrust itself through my nervous system…"_

"_I was slowly transforming, every bit of my old self being shed away until all that remained was the blue man that I was before my second death…Yes, on that day the man, the researcher of the Isle of the Ancients perished…I had become Tabuu, forced into this form by the murderer of my people…And before I had any time to grasp what had happened to me, the hand opened a portal behind me and flung me in, sealing the way out and leaving me trapped in what you now know as Subspace. I will not bore you with the details of my trip through the realm…"_

"_I spent years and years inside of there, my body now immortal thanks to the lack of any human vital organs…That is the only thing I can be thankful to this core for now, in that its existence gave me plenty of time to think about a way to exact my revenge. I learned that I could spy upon the outside realm from wherever I wished to look at, but I could never create a way out of Subspace, and even if I would I determined that my body would die the moment I step foot outside of there…I eventually saw my attacker return to the world I was sent away from, which had been dubbed by him as the "World of Trophies", a battleground where heroes and villains from various other worlds would fight in a cluster of replicated locations from their realms to determined who would be worthy of fighting the Master Hand…Yes, they were fighting the very being that wronged me, wronged my people! And then he used the land for his own purposes…"_

"_It irritated me to no end, my anger rising to the point that I began to think irrationally. My emotions worsened after I found that every time a hero bested the Master Hand, he never died…He wasn't something that could be killed by conventional means, only weakened and delayed…So my mind began to concoct a plan…A tribe of robotic creatures had migrated to the Isle of the Ancients from another planet, using the resources left behind to build factories for the use of producing weapons and other technologically advance devices. So I began to hatch my schemes…"_

"_I would assume you know the basics of my plot from the tale the one known as Mario told you, but there are a couple details I must elaborate upon. First off, you may be wonder why I chained up the Master Hand instead of attempting to kill him? You see, to the fighters he was a good person, someone to be trusted despite his violent tendencies. He was also a being of great power, one of which the villainous beings would do anything to acquire. By paying attention to the motives and personalities of the fighters from beyond, I eventually waited for the Master Hand to summon them up for the third time before I made my move. I first manipulated the leader of the R.O.B.'s with threats of destruction, and forced him to become the Ancient Minister, the herald of my army's arrival. The first thing I had him do was capture the one Neutral fighter, the 2-D man known as Mr. Game and Watch. When that was done I figured out how to open a portal to my realm for a brief period of time so I could take him and see just what made him the way he was…"_

"_My experiments led me to discover that he was home to an infinite supply of microscopic creatures that you have come to call 'Shadow Bugs', which shared an energy signature similar to that of Subspace. As such, I was able to harvest these bugs and use them to form my army. The Subspace Bombs were developed, Galleom was created, my dimensional travel technology was built-upon and made even better than it was before to call forth stronger villains from other worlds all for the purpose of stalling the heroes while I dealt with other affairs. Once everything had been prepared, I made my move against the Master Hand."_

"_Galleom and Duon were sent out to subjugate him at Final Destination, and when their efforts proved successful they dragged his paralyzed body back into Subspace where I then turned him into my own puppet with my 'Chains of Light'. An ironic fate all things considered…But I couldn't kill him; I wasn't strong enough to do so. So I came up with an idea…By detonating enough Subspace Bombs in the World of Trophies I could drag in portions of the world into my body and drain the life energy from them to power myself up until I would be able to give the Master Hand a permanent end…"_

"_Of course the heroes triumphed over my army, and against my wishes the one known as Ganondorf detonated all of the remaining Subspace Bombs and because of that all but one of the R.O.B.s were annihilated along with the island I once held dear…Even worse, Ganondorf secretly had the robots create a giant gunship that would create giant Subspace Orbs with a single shot. While this helped my plan along I was greatly upset over the fact that he did all this behind my back…The heroes destroyed the gunship though and pursued Ganondorf and Bowser into my realm…And I believe I don't need to tell you anymore after that…"_

"_So that brings us to the present time…I was brought back to life by an unknown force and told about the Elemental Overlord's revival on the planet Plit. The being who revived me gave me everything I needed to launch my attack. Another supply of 'Shadow Bugs' that was stronger than the previous batch, the ability to create Subspace Orbs at a whim, and finally they told me about Star Haven, a place that if I were to absorb the energy of into my body…Would give me more than enough power to end Master Hand's life…And now here we are in the present, child who houses the former Elemental Overlord's spirit…"_

When Tabuu had finished giving his backstory to the young Overlord, the boy is left speechless by what he heard. From the very beginning he thought that he was going to hear a repeat of what Joe Dark had told him about his past based on some of the details mentioned. But that was not the case. Not only did the lord of Subspace have a legitimate reason for going to such extreme measures to kill the Master Hand, but because of the heroes' interference he died while the one who murdered his people once again got off without any negative repercussions. Now he was left wondering just how he was going to handle things from here on out. As the Elemental Overlord he was obligated to protect the innocent and kill those who had crossed the line one too many times…

But Tabuu presented a problem. He meant well with his intentions, but the methods he employed led to the near-extinction of an entire race of innocent, robotic creatures and almost left many heroes in an eternal state of motionless as a trophy. But after you have lost everything you worked so hard to achieve and the one responsible for that state of affairs continues to live without karma doing anything to punish them, then does the end truly justify the means? Was the lord of Subspace an innocent man who was forced to employ such extreme measures to exact his well-deserved vengeance, or was he the despicable embodiment of this realm that is doing everything in its power to break him before his death? Alex thought about these questions, but found himself leaning more towards the first one. Tabuu seemed certain of his victory, so why would he have any reason to lie to him?

But once again that left him with more questions than answers. If that first question is the right one, then what can he do? The only way to stop the Subspace Army was to slay its leader. But if he did that then he would never be allowed a peaceful death, because the Master Hand would still be alive…At the same time there was no guarantee that killing Tabuu would free Mario and Luigi from their imprisonment. However, there was actually one question that Alex figured he'd be able to get an answer for. It was something that had been on his mind from the start of the battle, and the only one of the two he asked beforehand that he has yet to get a response for.

"Now that I have enlightened you…It is time to perish." As Tabuu inches forward ready to deal the final blow, the young Overlord defiantly raises his left hand up to stop him, to which the lord of Subspace does so almost immediately. "Hold on a second Tabuu…While I now know just why you want to trap those who stood against you…What does the Elemental Overlord have to do with any of this? It's not like he was involved in the events of that fateful day…" "Ah, but that is exactly WHY I'm out to banish the spirit of the original Elemental Overlord from this world."

"…What?" After taking a moment to try and understand the lord of Subspace is getting at with his reply, Alex lifts his head up and looks at him in bewilderment, blankly stating that one word as the man has a smile on his face. "It is because he DIDN'T get involved that I am doing this…A man, a deity whose purpose is to bring balance to world shrouded in darkness…To save those who need saving…And even though he knew very well that my planet existed and had the ability to foresee events before they happened, he neglected my world and left it for ruins. To me, the fact that he did nothing despite being capable of doing so is just as great of a crime as committing genocide, and for that he must not be allowed to cling to this world any longer…"

"But that doesn't make any sense. You said your people died a thousand years ago, correct? But the Elemental Overlord sealed his powers away two-thousand years ago. There is no way that he could've ever visited your planet, so-" Alex is then frozen in place out of the blue, as a massive, glowing orb materializes from his body and finds itself looming in the air behind him. Its bright light is a magnificent sight to behold, but Tabuu knows just who inhabits it without batting an eyelid towards it. "So the spirit of the Elemental Overlord has decided to make his presence known, huh? Most unexpected…" The man notes, as the young Overlord turns his head to the left to look up at the orb. "Huh, what are you-" "I would appreciate it if you stayed quiet for the time being Alex. This doesn't concern you, and you are questioning things that you have yet to comprehend…I will explain myself to Tabuu, so just stand still and wait patiently while I do this…" The orb says in a calm yet harsh tone of voice to the boy of which his spirit inhabits, and after being surprised by his actions Alex turns his head forward and closes his mouth so he can listen to their conversation without interrupting.

"Tabuu, you remember how I told you on your planet that one year in your time is two years for my planet, correct?" "Yes, that fact has never once slipped my mind." "So what occurred a thousand years ago occurred two-thousand years ago for me. If things line up as accurately as I assume they do, then during the time that the Master Hand wiped out your race and banished you to Subspace, I was in battle with the Dark King. It is unfortunate what happened to you and your people, and I cannot apologize enough considering I should've at least dealt with the Master Hand before my physical body left this world. But I never even knew that such a great injustice had occurred until now, so I am merely speaking theoretically here…" "…I suppose you do bring a good point. To you the Dark King was a much higher priority to deal with then the Master Hand, but still-" "I am not trying to justify his actions. Far from it. He shouldn't have done what he did, and I take full responsibility even if I didn't know what had happened…"

"But the boy is innocent. My sins are not his. I'm already incapable of going to Heaven or Hell, and I've spent two-thousand years alone and aware in an inescapable prison of my own design. I cannot repent enough for what I have done, but there is no reason to drag the boy away from this world just to kill me." "…Hmm…" "I can tell you have something to say Alex, so I will let you continue on from here on out." With his final bit said, the Elemental Overlord vanishes back into the body of his young successor, who holds his left arm flat out in front of his chest and opens his fingers up before he speaks.

"Tabuu, you've suffered for a long time, you've wanted revenge against the Master Hand but have already been robbed of one chance to do so. I know this will sound crazy and will probably earn me some strife…But why don't you let me carry your burden? I can do what the previous Overlord was unable to do and slay the Master Hand myself. You don't have to trudge through this realm, you can finally pass on and see your friends again, relaxing in peace as you have confidence over the fact that I will accomplish what you had failed to do…Tabuu, it may not have happened to me, but I still feel like I can empathize the ordeals you've had to endure…Not only that, but is sacrificing a planet really worth it to accomplish your goals?"

At the end of that last sentence, the lord of Subspace flinches in place and his eyes widen in bewilderment. "What are talking about, sacrificing a planet? I'm not trying to do that." Alex reacts with surprise, thinking back to the massive, dark energy source he had detected before he met up with the Mario Bros. "You can't be serious with that lie, right? I felt something extremely powerful on my way here. It felt like it could destroy a planet if it wanted to…" "Destroy…A planet? Oh no…" Tabuu frantically moves his hand around in circles around him, summoning forth circular windows that allowed him to see the areas where he summoned Subspace Orbs at. His attention immediately goes to the battle of Toad Town, his eyes widening in fear upon seeing the dragon that Bowser, Mallow and the others are combating. Its wings have now emerged through the orb, and all that is left by this point is its tail before it has completely appeared.

"Impossible…How did he get there?" Tabuu staggers back, his calmness vanishing in the face of this mighty beast. As his trembling would suggest, he recognized and feared whoever it was he saw. "Wait, you AREN'T responsible for whatever it was that I sensed?" Alex says, his expression changing to that of shock as he sees the lord of Subspace acting the way he is. "That damn witch tricked me…Used me for her own purposes…" Tabuu whispers to himself, lifting his head up to look at the young Overlord a moment later. "Correct. You sensed the energy of the dragon that was long since sealed within Subspace by the Ancients who once lived on our island. It was unsurprisingly given the name Pandora, for it was said that if its entire body were to be pulled from another dimension and given a chance to roar, then whatever planet or celestial body it exists on or near at the time will detonate. But…I had no idea that it would be close to one of my Subspace Orbs when I summoned them…"

"Can it be stopped?" Alex asks calmly, to which the lord of Subspace responds to with a nod. "Yes. All that needs to be done is that I have to seal off the Subspace Orb that it came out of. That should be enough to kill it, since it will lose its connection to the only thing keeping it alive. However…" Tabuu hesitates with the rest of his sentence, and the young Overlord knows why. There are a few intense moments of silence, Alex's heart slowly beating faster as he notices the dragon getting closer and closer to emerging. "…Very well. Since the situation has changed far beyond the scope that I had expected it to, I will abandon my initial plans for this world. I will call off my army and seal the Subspace Orbs for good…However; in return, I want you to engage me in one final battle. We shall fight with our fists and feet only. If you're true to your promise you will win at all costs against me and be allowed to leave. If your plan was to fake it though just to trick me into stopping my attack, then you will die alongside me in this realm, your soul departing with the knowledge that you failed to let a man die peacefully after a millennium of suffering. Either way I declare this to truly be my final day in this mortal realm, because all the negativity that has welled up inside of me has gotten to the point that my body is starting to become exhausted…So what do you say, shall you accept my accept my terms and finally relieve me of my stress by ending my life?"

Alex was surprised by how well Tabuu was taking things, his tone showing that he was ready to fully accept death and depart. With his body healed up enough by this point the young Overlord had confidence that he would be able to show the lord of Subspace his conviction to his promise, and end his long-endured bout of suffering. "Alright, I can gladly agree to your terms." He replies, dispelling his sword to show that he fully intends to go through with the agreement. With a smile on his face the lord of Subspace folds his arms and snaps his right fingers. From the views in front of him one could see the members of the Subspace Army disintegrating into "Shadow Bugs", which then vanish into oblivion not long afterwards. All except for Duon is affected by this method, and within seconds Galleom shuts down as well, leaving the tired and near-breathless Alpha to stand atop the two-headed mech and mutter to himself "Well well…"

In Toad Town, as the Subspace Orb collapses upon itself, the dragon is pulled back in and the molecules that compose of it die out until the whole thing is destroyed. Before the phenomenon completely leaves the world though, Mario and Luigi are flung out of it, their bodies landing against the ground unharmed. When they get back on their feet and see the orb vanish, they look around for any signs of the young Overlord, but see nothing that signifies that he escaped. "Oh no…" Mario whispers to himself, his mind wracked with fear for his friend's safety.

Back in Subspace, the two fighters are standing before each other in silence. "The deed is done…" Tabuu then suddenly says, placing his feet against the invisible ground for the first time in quite possibly a long while. He unfolds his arms and places his fingers together, cracking his knuckles to warm them up for battle. Alex in turn does the same, cricking his head left and right to loosen some sore muscles in his neck. Silence returns for a moment as the two of them look each other on and think about how the other is going to react first. Neither of them was at their full strength, so all it will take is a few precise blows to end the battle. One had to submit, so it was just a matter of breaking through any defenses they set up with their limbs.

Alex tightly clenches his right fist while Tabuu does the same. Then the two of them rush towards each other, bringing their fists out and slamming their knuckles against each other as a shockwave breaks through the air. The young Overlord brings his other fist around for a hook towards the lord of Subspace's jaw, but he responds by swinging his other arm over to wrap his fingers around the fist and catch it mid-blow. Before he can harm it by applying pressure, Alex raises his kegs up and kicks against Tabuu's gut, using all of his might to pull his arm free and in turn flip around to avoid a cross-chop from his left arm. When he lands on the ground the boy rushes forward and fires off a flurry of punches aimed at various parts of his opponent's body.

Considering his age the man is surprisingly nimble, his body swaying around to avoid most of the blows, and his arms being raised to perfectly block the rest. When an opening has been found Tabuu jabs his left hand out to strike the boy in the chest, targeting the part of that where the lung cavity resides to deal more damage than a normal blow. Air is forced out of Alex's body, a choking sensation filling his esophagus and leaving his arms hanging in front of his body as the lord of Subspace uses his other fist to deliver a powerful blow right to the front of the boy's face, knocking him back onto the ground and forcing him to skid along the ground, the muscle in his wings aching with every inch he moves.

But the damage isn't grave, and he kicks his feet against the ground to flip around and land gracefully on the ground just in time to see Tabuu dashing towards him. Alex sways his body down and uses a double-fist thrust to target the man's stomach, the force of his blow causing recoil that stuns him long enough for him to raise a right fist up and scrape his knuckles through the center of his chest to reach the jaw and hit it with everything he has got. The lord of Subspace is knocked upwards, his body turning around mid-air because of the blow he was just dealt. The young Overlord is about ready to slam his right elbow into his chest to knock him away, but Tabuu simply grins without being noticed and moves both of his feet together. He then hovers in place and thrusts them out, striking the unsuspecting boy in the face to throw him off guard even further.

As he staggers back Tabuu gracefully returns to the ground and floats forward while Alex is dazed, following his previous move up by thrusting one fist into the boy's gut and knocking the wind right out of him even more than it was before. The young Overlord bends his head forward and wraps his arms around his injured gut with his mouth wide open and sweat dripping across his skin. The lord of Subspace crosses his arms together and waits for the boy to recover, at which point he thrusts his body forward and uses a choking blow on his neck. There is no reaction save for Alex's eyes going blank for a few brief seconds as the rest of his body grows numb and keels over onto the ground.

Tabuu shows disappointment in how easily the young Overlord fell in battle, and begins to float away backwards in hopes that he will awaken. When a few seconds pass and he shows no signs of life, the lord of Subspace shakes his head slowly and turns himself away. "And here I thought you were actually serious about what you were saying…" After whispering that to himself, the disheartened man starts to walk away from the boy's lifeless body. "I…Am serious about my promise…So don't think…That I am done for yet!" To his surprise after he turns himself back around, Tabuu sees Alex mustering all of his strength into pushing himself up off the ground and getting back on his feet. His hands are at first pressed against his kneecaps, his body slowly drawing breaths after the aftershock of the lord of Subspace's previous attack. But then his face rises, his eyes filled with determination the likes of which the man had never seen before.

"When I make a promise…I always intend to keep them…That is the vow I made even before I became the Elemental Overlord…I don't care what is tossed my way…To fail in the completion of my promises…Would be the same as betraying who I really am…" As he speaks the boy holds his right fist up beside him and lights it on fire, every last bit of energy available in his form being poured into it to strengthening it further than its basic power once was. "Too many others…Sacrificed themselves for me…To fulfill their own promises…I won't let that happen to myself…Even if I have to trudge on…With a body that is bleeding profusely…And a mind warped beyond the point of it being able to function normally…I won't stop until I've completed my promises, stayed true to the vow I made…So with this final blow, I will show you the strength of my conviction!"

Alex springs to life after making his declaration, his body literally moving on its own as he edges ever closer to Tabuu. Time slows down for the lord of Subspace, as a white light surrounds the boy and he sees the spirits of both the Genesis Samurais and the inner guardians floating behind him in a group. He knew then and there that the young Overlord would stay true to what he said, that he would never falter, never stray from what he believed. In fact, his mind flashes back to his last stand against the Master Hand when he was a human, where he too showed that same determination despite how futile everything turned out to be. With this similarities being noted, Tabuu knew that it would be wrong of him to fight back. By doing so he would be robbing the young Overlord of a victory that he had rightfully earned.

So with a heartfelt smile on his face, the lord of Subspace opened his arms up wide and accepted the attack straight-on, the fist slamming right into his chest and releasing a massive burst of flames from behind him that is shaped to look like a tiger's face, an echoing roar being released from its mouth as it starts to fade away. Tabuu's core ignites, his arms and legs being flung out in front of him in recoil as his body then gets knocked backwards onto the ground a few yards away from where the attack connected. As smoke rises out of Alex's out held fist, he lowers it down beside him and pants slowly for a few seconds before running over the lord of Subspace's body, which is slowly disintegrating from the legs up as his core fades away due to its now weakened state.

"Heh…It looks like you won…Child who inherited the power of the elements…" Tabuu states weakly as a cough emerges from his mouth. Alex kneels down beside him and looks on with sadness in his eyes, placing one hand on the man's chest and noticing that his body temperature is decreasing. "…In my final moments, I have…Come to realize how far I fell…In order to accomplish my goals…Even if it was unintentional, I wiped out a race down to one member…Just like the Master Hand…Did to my own people…To combat a monster, I…Became one myself…Cough…Cough!" The lord of Subspace lifts his right hand up, looking tearfully into it as it too begins to crumble away into nothingness.

It is at that moment the very realm around them begins to quake, bits and pieces of the sky breaking off and falling down, shattering against the ground and grabbing both Tabuu and Alex's attention. "So…Without Pandora and myself around to sustain the stability of Subspace…It is on the verge of collapsing…There is little time left…" Before his hand is completely gone the man holds it out in front of him to call forth a portal that will allow the young Overlord a safe passage back to Plit. He then lays it flat against the ground before it leaves him, turning his head to the left as the boy looks on while holding back the tears. "Go…" Tabuu says quietly, urging his opponent to leave as the last breaths start to leave through his mouth.

Alex is hesitant at first, but as the tremors increase in intensity he knew that there was no time to pay tribute to the man's life. He gets up on his feet and runs to the front of the portal, taking one look back as he hears the dying lord of Subspace call out to him again. "Wait…I never got to learn your name…Can you at least tell me so I can carry that knowledge with me…To the next world?" The boy saw no reason not to give him this info, and with a smile on his face he replies with "My name is Alex Whiter." "Alex…Whiter, huh?" Tabuu replies, his expression no longer visible as the rest of his head fades away. But even after it has gone a few words still linger in the air. "Overlord Whiter…I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors…"

As the realm of Subspace continues to break apart and a pure, white slate is left in its absence, Alex turns around and finally enters the portal. But there is one thing that draws his attention back yet again. It was something he never thought that he would hear again, a vile, echoing laugh whose owner was thought to have been killed by the boy in the Origin Temple not too long ago. He turns around and holds one hand out, his mind thinking of the name of this despicable being and wanting to call out to them, but by the time it emerges from his lips the portal had sealed in front of him. It didn't take long after that for the realm to finally vanish. It was from then on known as a lifeless plain of existence, where no life could be supported and not a single entity would dare ever tread upon…

With his arm still extended in front of him, Alex finds himself back in Toad Town, his mind not clicking in this bit of info until he stands motionless for a few seconds. When he finally looks back and forth and sees that he has returned to the mortal realm, he turns his body around and finds Mario, Luigi and Mallow back in their normal forms and looking at him with smiles on there faces. They were glad that the boy had made it back safely, for they feared the worst when the Subspace Orbs sealed up without him returning. They didn't care about why he had one of his arms out. The group runs over to each other and wraps their arms around their bodies for a hug. In the background, Bowser scoffs at their display of affection in his Clown Copter, but then he turns to the Doomships and sees his children merrily celebrating their survival and gets a smile on his face. With no reason left for being there, he and his family fly away undetected.

Meanwhile, in Koopa Village, we see the villagers celebrating their victory on this day. Though some of the houses are damaged and a couple Koopa injured, they were all confident in their ability to endure and repair these problems, and began work on fixing them right away. Gemini is kneeling on the ground near the entrance, panting madly as the tip of his sword is planted in the ground beside him. He is still in his Star Spirit empowered form, but he is not exhausted because of any damages he took during the battle. No, he is like this because of effort he exerted in order to combat the Subspace Army. In his moment of weakness Kaylie walks up to him, laying her body against his back gently and wrapping her arms around his neck with tears trickling down her face. This tender moment is not interrupted by a single word from either of them, and the usually stoic Gemini is letting tears emerge from his eyes as well, his lips quivering into a smile…

Over at the M.S.I. Base, E. Gadd is standing outside of it, his body relatively unharmed despite the dangers being posed in his position. Driad is walking across the empty wasteland, his body scarred all-around after he had reverted to his basic form. All the while he has a goofy, cheerful grin on his face. The Professor is surprised to see the Crayzee Dayzee expressing his emotions like that, but when the flower finally makes it over to him he takes his vines and wraps them around his gut, unexpectedly lifting the frail old man into the air and jumping up and down in joy. "We won, we won, we won!" Driad happily declares, unaware of the fact that he might end up throwing E. Gadd's poor back out in the process…

Up in Star Haven, Geno has returned to the Sanctuary to check up on the well-being of the Star Spirits, leaving Alpha to his affairs with the de-activated Duon and Galleom. The Commander is looking at the two-headed mech first; his right hand plunged into the circuitry on top, where he makes a startling discovery. "The Shadow Bugs are gone…But in place of them is actual robotic parts…And this is all because of my interference, isn't it?" The Commander's lips curl into a grin as he starts laughing quietly to himself. "Excellent…Tabuu's invasion proved to be most beneficial…" Alpha turns around and looks at Galleom, noting something suspicious about its appearance and leaping off of Duon to go over and inspect it. "The technology of these robots, their connection to the realm of glitches…These could help stop him if he goes out of control later on in life…" With that grim message, the Commander continues his inspection in peace…

Two days after the aftermath of the one-day war against the Subspace Army, we find Alex in a secluded forest far away from any forms of civilization. He has a small bottle held between two fingers in his left hand. It has been painted to represent the colors that Tabuu wore as his skin throughout his life. One layer is black-and-white, the second is aqua-blue, and the third is peach like the skin of a human being. Stored within it is some ashes, that of which remained from his core after it had burned up inside of him. He had been carrying them around in secret, making sure that no one would notice them and start asking questions.

Despite Tabuu's final wishes, he felt that there was one person who needed to know about his motivations, and Alex had brought him along with him to this location to pay tribute to the fallen man. After burying the bottle in the ground and using his powers to cultivate a Cherry Blossom seed in the mound, he turns around and walks back, the being previously mentioned rolling over to the grave and lowering its head to say a few words to the fallen lord of Subspace that only he can hear. It was the last surviving R.O.B., who as many heroes know once went by the title of the Ancient Minister. After saying what he had to, the robot pulls his red metal hands apart and turns his body around, lifting his rectangular head up and staring straight into the young Overlord's eyes before thin pieces of metal move up and down to represent the fact that he is blinking.

"Are you sure that this is ok?" R.O.B. asks in a electronic tone, referring to the fact that everyone else on the planet would not take kindly to the fact that the Elemental Overlord is doing something like this for one who invaded their planet. "You and I will be the only one who will know about this, I can assure you that. Besides, knowing what I know now, don't you think that this is the right thing to do for him?" R.O.B. nods his head once in response, not at all hesitating by doing so. "I do. Though I disliked how my people were treated, I never truly thought of Tabuu as an irredeemable person…One must wonder what the rest of his mortal life would've been like…Had the Master Hand not done anything to his people…" With his last words said R.O.B. hovers away, leaving the area peacefully while the young Overlord stands alone in front of the grave to think things over.

He places a tightly clenched fist against his chest and looks up towards the morning sky, taking a deep breath in with a serious expression adorned on his face. "Tabuu, someday, somehow…I will find the Master Hand and finish him off for you. I am saying this again, hoping that you can hear me wherever you are now…" Alex then takes a solemn look down at the grave he made, as a sprout pops out of the dirt and rises for a couple of inches before it suddenly stops. "Sleep well, lord of Subspace…" He says to the grave, turning his body around and making his way out of the forest, with high hopes for the future…

**Movie 1: Rebirth of Subspace**

**THE END**

* * *

><p><strong><strong>**Author's Notes:  
><strong>

****And that's the end of this little tale. A nice read, was it not? Admittedly, there is a bit of a difference in the writing style between Part 3 and the rest, but that's because the first 3 parts were written in November, and the rest completed in March. There was a big gap because I finished editing up Part 1 of CotE for posting on here, but that's nothing really important in the long run.

Now then, Part 2 is ready to go, and the first 8 chapters have been written up. However, I'm going to give those of you who haven't finished reading this 2 days to catch up on this and Part 1, since both are important for what is to come. Like Part 1, this won't be closed because of a What-If story that will come later on. When, who knows?

Either way, see you all back here on Thursday for the beginning of Part 2!


	8. Whatif Story: Return to a Blank Slate

"…_So you have come back once more? I am quite surprised, honestly. After you witnessed the grim tidings of one alternate timeline, you wish to delve into another one and see what fate beheld the heroes there? I don't know whether to congratulate you for your bravery or mock you for your naivety. Before we go again though, I wish to clarify a few things with you, my observer. You cannot always expect a good outcome when you ask to see how things would've gone with an alternative to your chosen solution, the one timeline you saw was proof enough of my words. And as depressing as that fate was for the proud hero of the Mushroom Kingdom, the hands of the higher-up's influence extend far beyond just one timeline. Many others have been subjugated, stripped of their free will simply so 'they' can maintain balance in all thing light and dark."_

"_However, there are some things even they aren't willing to stop until the scope of destruction has been fully determined. So while they murmur about the weight of their decisions in a dimension far beyond the comprehension of mortal and immortal, many lives both malicious and innocent perish, and as should be noted, they have never been one to resurrect the fallen, especially when they consider the rest of us to be superfluous…But I do not wish to waste paragraph after paragraph explaining my abhorrence towards their methods, so I shall cease here and now."_

"_By now it should be obvious that I am a person, but I am different from the rest of you, and I am far different than even those I was once related to. I may have a human body, but that only hides my blood…Even so, I have emotions, and like the person this particular timeline shall be based around, I lost my people to an enigmatic being. You wish to know my identity, you say? There is a time and place for everything, but telling you my name won't help you at the moment. So sit back, relax, and let me weave you another tale, about the consequences brought on by a lack of acceptance…"_

**Clash of the Elements What-If Scenario (Movie 1):**

**Return to a Blank Slate**

It was an invasion the likes of which many people of Plit had never witnessed before. The Subspace Army, a highly unknown group of beings led by the equally enigmatic Tabuu, had risen again in full force after their leader's defeat in the World of Trophies. With his Subspace Orbs spread about in a specified pattern, Tabuu sought to capture the heroes that defied him once before and plunge the world into Subspace so he can absorb the energy from the captured zones to confront the being who wronged him by trapping him in this realm after wiping out his people.

The details and reasoning behind his plan were revealed in full to the young Elemental Overlord, Alex Whiter, and it was from those details that he learned from Tabuu just why he had a vendetta against the original wielder of the elements. After the spirit of the Overlord spoke to the lord of Subspace, Alex sought of a way to convince him to let him shoulder the burden. This is where the timeline splits, where in this tale the boy neglects to mention a key detail to the lord of Subspace, one that would've been certain to earn Tabuu's acceptance…

"Tabuu, you've suffered for a long time, you've wanted revenge against the Master Hand but have already been robbed of one chance to do so. I know this will sound crazy and will probably earn me some strife…But why don't you let me carry your burden? I can do what the previous Overlord was unable to do and slay the Master Hand myself. You don't have to trudge through this realm, you can finally pass on and see your friends again, relaxing in peace as you have confidence over the fact that I will accomplish what you had failed to do…Tabuu, it may not have happened to me, but I still feel like I can empathize the ordeals you've had to endure…So what do you say, will you call off your attack and let me do your job for you?"

Right away Tabuu raises an eyebrow in suspicion of the boy's words. It was a combination of disbelief and the particular timing of them that was brought to his attention. In his weakened state it would be far too easy for the lord of Subspace to end his life. So there was something for him to consider. Was his offer genuine, or an attempt to get him to submit to save his own skin? As Tabuu raised his hand, he felt uneasy as he started to lean towards the second option. He wanted to keep his arm out to shake in agreement of his offer, but as it inched further away from his body the uneasy feeling increased. Suddenly, he jerks his hand back, withdrawing the arm and crossing it in front of his chest once more much to Alex's shock.

"Do you take me for a fool?" He says with a laugh underneath his breath. The young Overlord, wondering as to what Tabuu was referring to, pulled his arm back and said in response "What do you mean by 'a fool'? I'm trying to help you out here…" "Then why are you quivering?" Tabuu quickly states with one brow raised. As the boy reeled back in surprise, he looks at his body and notices that his hands are shaking slightly, but not out of worry but from the pain he has suffered throughout the battle making it difficulty for him to keep himself together. However, in spite of what he knew, he was unable to say anything before he looked up and saw Tabuu spreading his arms out wide with his magnificent, rune-like wings appearing behind his back.

His murderous aura was overwhelming, which was discomforting to feel in the presence of his calm facial expression. He briefly grimaces, as if he has regrets about what he wishes to do. "Sorry, young Overlord, but this is the right decision. After all, if you are incapable of beating me, then what hope do you have of besting the Master Hand? I have to assimilate the life energy from the many worlds in the universe in order to stand a chance against it. Besides, my forgiveness towards the Elemental Overlord would only come from one of two conclusions…Either I accepted his faults as I die, or I destroyed him myself…Sorry you had to get wrapped up in this child, but the lives I sacrifice will prevent a million times that amount from falling as well."

With his intentions noted calmly, Alex quickly draws forth his sword and spreads his wings out wide, gritting his teeth in anger at Tabuu's choice while at the same time expressing fear at the attack he was about to unleash. He stood no chance of guarding against it, so he had to cut him down before it was fired. Upset that things had to come down to this, the young Overlord grips the handle of his sword in both hands and swings it behind him, the weight of his blade throwing him off-balance as he is swiftly forced to prevent himself from falling backwards.

His vision becomes blurred, the effort of even the simplest movements taking a lot of energy to perform. But he doesn't waver, and charges forth even as Tabuu begins to uncross his arms from in front of him with his core pulsating to release the energy out from the wings. When the rings start to form and expand outward, Alex has only one thing on his mind, and everything else slows down to a crawl so he can think about his thoughts a while longer. "Tabuu…I can only imagine what you are thinking about right now. You've already chosen your path, and maybe you just want to see it through to the end instead of passing the torch to someone you just met…It is too late for me to change your mind, but in my final moments I wish to show you something…"

With his blade quickly raises above his head, Alex brings it down like a guillotine, the tip of his blade grinding against the powerful energies that make up the supposedly unstoppable golden ring. Distortions spread out through the realm, the structure of Subspace wiggling about without restraint as the colors flash rapidly between their regular and inverted shades. The second effect changes the textures of the two fighters as well, and after a few seconds of pressing his weapon against the Off-Wave, Alex's wings start to slowly disintegrate, appearing as ashes for a brief moment through Tabuu's focused pupils until they are spontaneously ignited, turning all feathers into bright, crimson flames that pour themselves into the boy's body to briefly give him his full strength.

With his power returned it doesn't take long for Alex to break through the Off-Wave, shattering both the ring along with dispelling the effect around him by turning the inverted colors into broken glass shards that fall off on all sides of the area. As they crash against the ground, the flames on the young Overlord's body and sword die out, his blade held diagonally behind his head as his breathing becomes diluted and heavy. Multiple sweat drops are dripping from his head, but even though he has lost he puts on his brightest smile and never once lifts his face up to look at Tabuu as the next Off-Wave is fired off. The boy can only hear his beating heart, which is loud enough to overtake the sounds of the ring tearing a path through the ground in front of him. The beatings become more rapid and pronounced, pounding against his chest with such force that it could burst through the cavity wall at any moment.

But the feeling didn't matter in the slightest. The edge of the Off-Wave cuts straight through Alex's right shoulder, the arm falling to the ground after floating in the air precariously for a couple moments. The blood gushes out from the young Overlord's body in all directions, splattering against the ground in various locations until it gathers together into a dark-red puddle. The remainder of the blood drips out slowly as the boy's lifeless body leans forward and begins to fall towards the ground, that same smile still present on his face. Tabuu doesn't fire another Off-Wave, instead choosing to let the body fall with dignity. His wings disappear into nothingness, and as the blood stops emerging the lord of Subspace floats over so he is front of his victim and lowers himself so he can see the child as he lies in a pool of his own drying blood.

For some reason, a tear trickles out of Tabuu's right eye, and the feeling of liquid running down his cheek causes him to take notice immediately. He taps his right hand against the side of his face, slinking his fingers downward so the next drop rolls onto his nail. He then moves his hand in front of his eyes, staring into the glistening teardrop as his eyes swiftly widen in horror. "What…What have I done?" He mutters. He was ridden with guilt, a feeling that came on so suddenly that it was almost difficulty for Tabuu to comprehend just why it is happening.

But as he was left to his sadness with no one to help him cope with it, Subspace suddenly started to shake violently, tremors of unimaginable magnitude being followed up by the roar of a mighty dragon. This sensation dies down quickly, but Tabuu's guilt is replaced with an immense feeling of unease as he lifts his body up and looks around in utter confusion. "It can't be…No…It is. Pandora has awoken!" As his mind starts racing, the lord of Subspace flies up into the air and feels his core starting to beating, and he can feel that its structure is becoming unstable inside of his body. "What is going on here? How has Pandora breeched the outside world, and why is my core reacting to this feeling of dread in the air?"

As Tabuu looks ready to charge through the realm to seek out Pandora and drag it back in before the world of Plit can be destroyed, he is frozen in place upon hearing the echoes of a callous, sadistic laugh. _"Ehehehehehehe!"_ Suddenly, a black, capsule shaped portal opens up in front of the lord of Subspace, and emerging from it is a wrinkled, green-skinned woman wearing a violet and yellow witch's robe. Her jagged fingers are quickly hidden under it, and as she grins her eyes stare straight into Tabuu's exasperated own with malice brimming in the shrunken pupils. "Hello, Tabuu…To think we would see each other again, but I had to come and congratulate you for eliminating the Elemental Overlord. A job well-done, if I do say so myself…"

Tabuu immediately arched his eyebrows in anger as the mysterious witch finished her sentence with a casual expression of pleasure on her face. "I recognize you…You are the one who revived me, aren't you?" His voice is raised, displeasure being shown in his harsh tone as the being floating before him just stays calm and does nothing to react to his existence. "You could say that." She says in a coy tone. Tabuu swings his arms out wide, his eyes flaring up as the truth becomes clear to him almost instantly "You used me to destroy Plit and kill the Elemental Overlord because he stood in your way, didn't you?"

"A little late to be stating the obvious, aren't we?" The witch says, standing firm against the unhinged Tabuu as two golden chains come out from above and below his palms, lashing themselves around her limbs to suspend her in place while the lord of Subspace tries to summon his wings to kill her while she was helpless. But as her lips curl into a smirk, she opens them wide and says without changing the look in her eyes "How convenient…The puppet came with his own strings…" And with her cold-hearted mockery of Tabuu's role in her schemes the witch summons magic into her hands, and with a flick of the wrist the chains are broken. The lord of Subspace has summoned his wings by this time though, and as he folds his body forward ready to unleash his Off-Waves, he lifts his head up and glares at the witch with a furious intensity burning within.

"If you feared the Overlord, then know that I shall be a bigger nightmare to you than he ever was!" Having slipped into madness, Tabuu swings his arms out wide beside him, raising his body ready to launch his attack, only for no rings to emerge and his wings to instead start distorting behind him. He can feel the fuzziness of their warping structures as he leans his head down and notices his core reacting to an unknown pressure that has covered the atmosphere around him. However, judging from the witch's calm demeanor, it is clear that she cannot feel what he can, and as he prepares to question her about this sensation she rears her head back and bursts into riotous laughter.

"Ehehehehehe! Oh boy, you just have no idea how outsmarted you are, do you?" Gently lowering her head to glare straight into Tabuu's confused, fear-struck eyes as his core starts to project bigger, holographic versions of itself at steady intervals as the lord of Subspace's wings vanish and he is frozen in place without explanation. His eyes wiggle around, trying to focus on the witch as his breaths become more frantic and heavier with each passing second. "Let me explain it all to you, shall I?" The witch says as she closes her eyelids and grins from cheek to cheek. After floating in closer to Tabuu and laying her wrinkly palm against his chin, she wraps her cold fingers around his jaw and forces the face to lean down to stare at her.

With her prey at her mercy, she slants her eyebrows and says with brimming arrogance, "You see, my plan from the start was originally to revive you in order to prevent someone else from getting to where I lurk and putting a major dent in my plans. No, I wasn't worried about being killed, but rather of the damage he would cause while I was waiting to get revived. But as I recalled witnessing your powers, I came up with a plan to use your realm for a better purpose. First I went to that dragon you feared and modified its powers with a spell, making it so that instead of destroying a planet or celestial body it would instead convert the whole thing into a Subspace Orb. Then, when I revived you I modified your core to act as a magnet that would keep you motionless after a large source of energy appeared in this realm for you to absorb. However…I also de-stabilized your core, so that when you absorb the energy of say…A certain planet, it'll detonate, the energy amplifying the blast radius to such a length that it will create a large, pitch black vacuum outside of this realm that shall drag in many other planets and stars that will be…Shall I say, inconvenient to my other plan. So I must admit, for a contingency plan everything worked out even better than I could've ever hoped for it to had things gone their course the way I had originally intended for them to…"

With her plan explained in excruciating detail to Tabuu, the witch withdraws herself from his body, tilting her head behind her and noting the mass of energy coming her way. With a creak of her head towards the doomed lord of Subspace she gives him one last smile, relishing in the sight of his pained expression as she waves a hand to open a portal beside her and enters it without leaving behind any evidence of her brief existence in the realm. Tabuu pains himself to move his eyes upward, seeing the humongous, pale-blue energy sphere descending towards him as he can only feel the cold sweat dripping down his face while he awaits not just his end, but the end of many innocent lives all because he realized too late that he needed to forgive the Elemental Overlord…

"_**And so the time Cackletta foretold of came. Tabuu absorbed the energy of Plit that Pandora had unwittingly provided for him. The ensuing Subspace detonation encompassed an unimaginable sized area of space, leaving everything as if it were untouched in the first place. The estimated casualty count for planets and stars was around 200 and 900 respectively, the amount of people lost in this event being incomparable in scope in comparison to those numbers…In the end, the lengths of which Cackletta had gone to fulfill her goal and the lives sacrificed to accomplish it led the higher-ups to unanimously agree to not only observe the Realm of Darkness, but to punish her for her crimes as well.**_

_**The witch was sentenced to continuous obliteration in the heart of a supernova, and it wouldn't be until the end of time that she would finally be allowed to die. As for the Subspace orb, with Tabuu's death it eventually collapsed into itself, the ensuing vacuum threatening to drag in even more planets and stars as well before it finally died. However, this time around the higher-ups set up a countermeasure to prevent anymore deaths, and destroyed any remaining traces of Subspace to prevent it from influencing the world any longer.**_

_**However, many heroes remembered for their selflessness and acts of heroism had perished without even knowing just what brought about their curtain call. This void was never filled, and in time a phantasm who once worked for the original Dark King broke free from a prison created by the Elemental Overlord and took advantage of the weakened balance between light and darkness to wreak havoc across the universe, killing countless more lives both innocent and malignant with sadistic glee. In time the higher-ups realized that there was nothing that could be done to prevent the absolute destruction of all living things in that timeline, and without nary a care to the lives that still remained in existence they deleted that universe from the branching streams of the multiverse, never again referring to its existence…" **_

**What-If M1.1: The End**


End file.
